


Iron Fists

by Loki_God_of_Evil



Series: A Whole Other Realm [2]
Category: Iron Fist (TV), Lego Ninjago, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: (Ninjago)Crossover, Angst, Avengers why did you lose Jay, Beasting, Drunk and Disorderly, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Fluff, Graphic depictions of violence - Freeform, Loki Does What He Wants, Major Character Death Multi, Mind Control, Strike Team Delta, Thor wears red riding hoods cape, Violence, cole's POV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-03-15 05:31:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 47,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13606572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loki_God_of_Evil/pseuds/Loki_God_of_Evil
Summary: This is a side story for when the ninja arrive on earth."It is an infinity stone, made by otherworldly beings. It is bound to have had an effect." Zane says, rather unhelpfully."That's great, but you're not glowing like a walking popsicle and I don't see Kai fully alight like the human torch.  And hey, Lloyd's not resembling an energy bulb right at this moment.  So it's just me. . .Honestly, I look like a black-haired Danny Rand." "Use this to your advantage then!"





	1. Chapter 1

"So what say ya huh, punk...you feeling lucky?" Cole asked as he felt himself being pushed into a side street in this new city he'd decided to venture into partially alone.

He wasn't alone for long. His brothers and Nya had quickly found him after their impromptu arrival on this blueberry looking planet they'd just found themselves on. They were evidently too dazed to talk, Nya was being held up by Kai and Lloyd was draped over Zane. They all stood leaning heavily against the wall. Still illuminated gently by the street lights of New York.

"C-Cole, y-you alright bro?" Kai struggled to speak, he quickly vomited on the floor.

"Oh the cavalry's arrived," one of the thugs muttered in a very strong New York accent as he held a dazed Cole up against a filthy dumpster.

"You're all wearing such bright clothing too, kinda easy pickings when you wander into this neighbourhood so willingly."

"Yeah, it's like you wanna be mugged or somethin." The second thug sneered and retrieved a crude flick knife holding it up to Cole's wiped out face. "Wearing all this gansta shit, you lot from China town?"

The master of earth looked completely washed out, they all did...except for Zane but he was largely hidden behind Lloyd and Kai because of the odd looks he was getting from the people that walked by., "I don't know wh-what the hell you're talking about."

"Reckon you all look like you've come from a comic convention?" he chuckled and pressed the blade into Cole's neck as the other one checked Cole for a wallet or anything of any value.

Cole was mildly incensed by this behaviour but chose to bide his time. He felt them take his wallet, not that it was of any use in this realm. They found his keys too, again useless here. Then they found his weapons and pocketed them themselves, leaving him weaponless in the process.

How was it that he, the master of earth, had wondered so helplessly in his dizzy state into the darkest alley where some utter lowlifes were laying in wait to make their move. He had wondered that if it wasn't him, would they have taken a female or an older person and beat the ever living shit out of them?

Still, he waited for his moment, his breathing calming down from the horrid journey they had all taken to get here, to rescue Jay.

"You all look like extras from Street fighter," one thug muttered, "Or Mortal Kombat!"

A good and usually descriptive part of their faces were hidden by hoods that obscured their eyes and facial features. The lower halves were covered with t-shirts that had been pulled up haphazardly to cover their mouths and other identifying features that could be used with a criminal line up. Cole had nothing on them, he couldn't even see their faces clearly. Just the fact that they were slightly smaller in stature and they both had possibly illegally owned firearms...Their voices though, these thugs sounded quite young. They were probably a part of a gang, which didn't give him much time.

"You come any closer-" He warned the others at the end of the alley, "-and this one'll get a new smile, eh pretty boy," He taunted holding the blade back at Cole's face.

Cole's eyes widened. He was just too exhausted to do anything, let alone stand up and fight.

None of them had any money, they only had their weapons. Well, Cole did but his had been removed when he was accosted or jumped in the alley.

They had only just arrived here too. Completely bewildered when they had opened their eyes because it was so different to where they had come from. The definition here was phenomenal and it far surpassed that of Ninjago. It took them a good few moments to gather their bearings after staring at each other for a good few moments more.

Cole was unlucky enough to stumble backwards into an alleyway when he lost his balance and when his team had finally managed to stand themselves they had attempted to look for him.

Such was the way of travel by infinity and wormholes. Tesseract was never a gentle journey. It was an infinity stone first and foremost, the very same that Jay had tinkered with almost eleven weeks ago Ninjago time.

Lucky for them, they arrived at nightfall. Unluckily for Cole, he was pulled quickly into the side alley when these thugs saw the amount of shiny metal on his body.


	2. Captured

"Reports of a disturbance sir, your orders Agent Smith?"

"I can't believe I got stuck with you again. Patrolling this city's street for ET's isn't my idea of a fun night out. Oh, you realise that this means the cube is still in the state too, Jameson?"

"Ditto and affirmative. It's still in New York, which is great...this state is huge."

"Be thankful it's not Texas, anyway current reports state this disturbance bears remarkable similarities from that of nearly two weeks ago too. You copy, that Agent Smith?"

"The blue assassin now turned rogue, Agent Jameson?"

"Yeah, actually he was more of a ninja. Your orders Sir?"

"My orders come from the top from Agent Hill and Fury..." *the radio crackles* "-Got it, detain and apprehend only...I repeat apprehend only. No tasers, no firing and no tranquilliser darts." *radio crackles* "-we can't afford another incident like last time."

"Roger that, what good is an extra terrestrial if he's spread across Times Square."

"Hey, that wasn't my fault, he just stepped into the road."

"That's because you shot him with darts!"

"I apologised for that. Anyway what area is the disturbance?"

*Radio crackles again* "97th Street, East Harlem."

"HARLEM, SHIT, MOVE MOVE...move now...NOW!"

"Get your hands off them..." He hissed and fought against the two restraining him.

"See the th-thing is-" Cole stated breathlessly after he'd received a harsh bruising punch to his unsuspecting abs and rib cage. His eyes were squeezed shut as he concentrated on his breathing, "-you really don't know who you're up against."

The gun which had been tucked into one of the thugs waistbands was being pointed at Zane.

Cole didn't want to hazard a guess as to how many bullets would be in the magazine. He figured it would be enough to cut his life short and the lives of his team though. No sooner had they punched him, his hands had gone under his black hoodie. A half-hearted attempt to sooth the ache that now resided there courtesy of a brutal knuckle duster punch and one that had made contact with a few ribs. "You're making a mistake."

"Not so tough without all your weapons are ya? Are you Chinese Triad or Japanese Yakuza?"

"Dude, they're all dressed like ninja, they've gotta be Yakuza."

"Yeah well, they aint carrying much cept for these weapons. Reckon they were planning on shitting on our territory."

"Yeah, this aint China town pretty boy."

"China Town?" Cole grunted.

Confusion on his face as the thug grabbed his hair and yanked him back into the wall. It was laughable, Cole was bulkier than the one holding him up, it was just sheer exhaustion that was preventing him from lashing out in anger and the winding blows that kept him hunched over.

The thing is; the thugs had no idea that Cole's fists were both glowing. A beautiful warming bright orange glow that seemed to brighten exponentially the longer they kept him pinned against the dumpster. "We-we're neither..." Cole wheezed.

Cole nor his team knew what the Hell these thugs were on about. They'd literally just arrived on this rock and had already been apprehended by scumbags who thought they could pick on lesser people than themselves. In this instance they had chosen wrong, Cole was just biding his time.

He looked up briefly. Sweat was beginning to bead on his forehead. Of course, it wasn't just him that felt rotten. Kai had passed out, Lloyd was panting harshly on the floor and Nya didn't look any better as she slumped against her brother.

Zane was the only one who was still upright, but he was glitching slightly, "Cole? PIXAL?" He mumbled and his face showed a worried expression when she gave him no response, even more so when he saw Cole being assaulted.

He wanted to approach and help but his systems couldn't work out the likelihood of how successful his tactic would be. And Cole was fast losing the will to remain upright. It was like his own systems were preventing him from functioning, to even move forward and help.

Cole could see what Zane was trying to do but he knew that it was too risky for Zane to attempt anything. They were powerless, completely and utterly exhausted.

To passers-by, they could have looked like a group of party goers, who's probably had a little too much of the good stuff. The only thing that looked out of place was the clothing choice and the sheer amount of weaponry on each individual.

Daylight hours, there would have been a huge issue and commotion caused, it wasn't that long ago that a certain blue ninja had arrived in the same manner. But this was almost the dead of night. The barest flicker of life walked past; namely the drunken youth who'd been partying too hard. A few old teens glimpsed into the alley and carried on walking.

Cole was flabbergasted, he had no choice now.

"Zane don't..." Cole warned, "Stay with them," He wasn't stupid, nor was he naive. He knew that even in Ninjago he couldn't just walk into dark alleys at night at not expect to get into a little fisticuffs with someone.

The thing is, back in Ninjago, Cole would have been able to take them on. But since that horrendous journey here, they were all worn out, physically and mentally exhausted.

Zane remained back. Even he couldn't understand what had happened. The feeling that his CPU and internal processing drives were trying to piece together what they all been subjected to when they travelled here was taking up his rational thinking.

A single punch was all it took.

He lashed out in self-defence and in doing so, he knocked the blade right out of the accomplice's hand. It skittered across the floor and ended up under another dumpster. The thugs' eyes had watched it too, they saw the blade flying through the air but were too slow to react as Cole's glowing fist carried on through the arc hitting both jaws with two simultaneous sickening cracks that echoed mercilessly down the dark alley.

He only just managed to stop himself from breaking all his metacarpals on the wall when his movements paused. Instead of punching into a much more substantial wall his fist stopped and he scraped his knuckles down the bare bricks, cringing as he did so to prevent him from following through with his elemental glowing fist.

When he finally got control of his body, he took a quick glance of his surroundings. Cole had noticed that the two youngish thugs had face planted into the wall so hard that they had probably broken their noses but he didn't get a chance to see the finished articles.

Often he enjoyed seeing the devastation that these glowing fists of his could cause in Ninjago but here, the effect in this place was phenomenal.

As soon as the punch had made contact and he felt no more danger, his legs had quickly lost their strength. He looked to his brothers and Nya, Zane was slumped against the wall, his cyan blue eyes flickering. Nya was on the floor, Lloyd and Kai were too.

His eyes became heavy and just before he blacked out, he saw a large number of cars pulling up directly outside the back street. Now heavily armed men with laser sights were all pointing their firearms into the alleyway.

"You care to tell me what happened?"

"You care to tell me where you've taken us?" Cole countered.

"Triskelion, SHEILD HQ."

He wasn't expecting an answer, let alone a truthful one. But, regardless how he currently felt about their predicament. The signs spoke for themselves. It was called the Triskelion...and it was huge.

There were two men, both with full body combat gear. They looked like they'd just come in from an overseas mission, still had dirt on their knee pads, Even their black boots were mildly dusty. One of the bulky men offered Cole a drink of straw coloured water. He turned his nose up at it and sniffed it first.

"It's an energy drink." The brown-haired man said and slammed down a plastic beaker.

It hit the Formica table so hard Cole was surprised it hadn't left a crack on either. Still not intimidated, he took the beaker and poured the carbonated drink.

Cole noted that both bulky men wore utility combat get up, biceps and everything on show. They were obviously proud of their bodies otherwise why would they be showing off so much of it?

"Agent Rollins, in case you were looking for a name badge." He said with a stoic expression.

"We just arrived here, like...what time is it?" Cole asked with a look of confusion on his face. His watch was going mad. The second hand had fallen off and the minute's hand was going the same way. The hour hand on his timepiece was spinning like a stopwatch and he was oddly mesmerised by it.

"The time is-" he pressed a button without removing his eyes from Cole's, "-21.59."

"Where did you come from Cole?"

Cole was taken aback, he figured that one of his brothers had been far too giving on the information front which made this whole thing so much easier. Introductions were always the worst and he figured Zane might have been the one to spill the beans.

"We came from the same place as our brother Jay, we came to rescue him from...wh-where am I?"

"New York, obviously." He said with a distrustful look, "Where are you from?"

"Not here, "Cole said rolling his eyes, "This is fast becoming a stalemate, where are my brothers?"

The other heavily armed man stood up from his slouching position on the wall. "Your brothers? Teammates, whatever. They're all in the interrogation room's."

The sound of a key card being used to open the door from the other side was heard. Cole was a little relieved to see a more friendly dressed man, although this one seemed to carry a smallish manilla folder with him. He said nothing either. Just sat down in front and opened the folder, keeping his fingers next to his right ear on occasion.

"Cole, I'm led to believe?"

"Yeah, and you are?"

"Agent Coulson, SHIELD."

"And SHIELD are?" Cole was growing bored.

He smiled, "It stands for the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. We're better known by the acronym S.H.I.E.L.D."

"What does SHIELD do?" Cole asked as he finished his sweet energy drink and placed the plastic tumbler down. He felt like a school child being given a plastic sippy cup.

"SHIELD is a United States extra-governmental military counter-terrorism and intelligence agency. We're tasked with maintaining global security." His face was heavily scrutinising Cole as he spoke. "We maintain global security-" he repeated leaning in closer.

Global security, from the likes of him and his team perchance? He was more apprehensive now. "I'm not here to threaten you, we've just come to get our brother back."

"Cole, do you know the principle S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded upon?"

He shook his head and sat more upright as Agent Coulson's eyes bored into his, "No, should I?"

Coulson released a dangerous laugh. A deep sigh and a charming smile followed, "Protection. One word." He said and pressed a button which revealed some form of holographic display to appear n front of Cole's face. It was almost like being back with Cyrus Borg and the type of tech that he'd be creating.

Cole could see in a matter of seconds that they weren't in Ninjago anymore. This was like the scene from one of the Starfarer's movies or one of their games consoles depicting their favourite superhero. This was surreal.

A flying man wearing red and gold, it partially reminded him of Zane but this one had rocket propulsion in his hands and feet. He guessed that maybe Borg could make some adaptations to Zane if needs be. Then there was the appearance of a tornado in the middle of a dessert and the startling vision of a shiny metallic man who walked out of it.

It looked like something was recording this footage from a shaky handheld device and then there were airborne shots, likely from a helicopter. Cole was more relieved that they were just as advanced as his homeworld. He wondered if they had flying ships too.

He narrowed his gaze at the jumpy images and saw the definite appearance of a man with a long red cloak. The dude looked like he was chiselled out of marble. He was so buff he almost put Cole to shame. Well, he'd put Kai and Lloyd to shame, Jay for certain. This man looked like a god.

"Sometimes, to protect one man against himself, other times to protect the planet against an alien invasion from another universe [...] but the belief that drives us all is the same, whether it's one man, or all mankind."

"That they're worth saving."

"That was the last extraterrestrial species we had arrive here, un-announced a year ago." He stated with a stoic expression, "-Until a few weeks past." He finished, looking entirely at Cole. Dark blue eyes questioning, waiting for a flicker of emotion.

Cole was glued to the screen, passing his hands through it. "Is this laser technology? Cool, we have this too," he said, removing his hands seemingly unconcerned with what the agent was saying. "Uh, so who was that guy?"

Coulson narrowed his gaze, "Thor!" he said quickly. Now gauging if Cole knew anything of Norse myth. "God of thunder? Asgardian prince? Lives on another realm?"

"Yeah, you can say as much as you want, but I've still no clue who you're talking about?"

"I have evidence to suggest that you aren't from earth, either."

"No shit!" Cole said, leaning back on his plastic chair, "-I've been trying to ask where I am for the best part of three hours but these dudes aren't talking."

He laughed softly to himself, "guessing you'd be referring to Jay when you mentioned all that spiel about no alien activity until a week ago?"

"Aliens, now that's a term we don't like to use. We're professionals here, not unlike yourselves and those unique abilities you all seem to have."

"Are you referring to Jay then?" Cole said, slight apprehension on his face. Nothing had been mentioned about Jay. No one had said anything.

Coulson's face was unreadable, "Actually, No..." a snide smirk appeared on his face, "I was referring to these creatures, but as you've so kindly admitted,"

The screen showed some rather strange looking biped creatures and the appearance of such made Cole recoil with their odd look. He wasn't scared as such, he'd been up against far worse looking creatures back on the real of Ninjago, the serpentine, stone and nindroid armies came to mind. The time twins seemed relatively friendly compared to these guys.

"What are they?"

"Reptilian humanoids," Coulson said and passed a few pictures to Cole that depicted a few in their fighting stances. "We know that they have a bio-mechanical physiology and superhuman attributes, but they lack durability."

"You want us to help, don't you?" Cole grumbled. He looked up at the two armed men. "Is it just me that you're watching over?"

Rollins and Rumlow were keeping guard by the door. Both SHIELD mercs were standing watching him like a hawk and both were armed to the teeth with AWSM's and Ruger side arms. Not that it mattered to Cole. A gun was a gun, no matter the realm...it would hurt no less if he was shot here or there.

"I admit, it would be beneficial to have you all on the same sheet, as it were," he said and passed Cole a photo of none other than Jay.

"Wh-why, what happened to him?" Cole sputtered his words. Jay looked a bruised and battered wreck. The photo showed him smiling with a look of homicidal glee on his face. Surrounded on one side by an archer and the other side by a man with a green cloak and golden horns. "Who the fu...who is that?"

"The brother of Thor," Coulson added.

"And who are they?" Cole asked again. His mind had been blown open with all of this information. Here was Cole thinking that they were all alone on Ninjago, only to find out that in fact, they were, anything but.

"The Chituari," Coulson repeated. he swiped his security card and it revealed a very detailed video image.

Cole thought that the image far surpassed that of Borg's creations, it was incredibly futuristic.

"We have good evidence to know that their technology ranges from hovercraft-like skimmers and Necrocraft. Of course, it helps to have people in the know, people who have come up against these extraterrestrials before."

"Well that's not me or my brothers..."

"No," Coulson said, "I never intimated that they were, jumpy aren't you?" He narrowed his eyes again and chuckled but it was insincere and he could see that Cole felt on edge. "I was referring to another, but that's not important right now."

Cole's eyebrow rose, when Brock Rumlow gave him another can of Redbull, "You'll need it, it's an energy drink."

"You got a sponsorship deal huh?" Cole said with a grin as he looked at the proffered can. Turning back to look at the smart-suited man, "-so, tell me about these dudes..."

Coulson frowned at the casual tone afforded to such mindless killers, "Chitauri?"

Cole nodded, taking a drink and seemingly enjoying it. He didn't put it down he held onto it for dear life, "The Chi-tuari, you were saying?"

The suited agent, patient as ever, cleared his throat and began again, "-they travel on living airborne troop carriers, commonly called Leviathans and we are fairly certain that their soldiers have a neural link with a large mothership that may be just out of our solar system."

"That makes no sense, so like a wormhole or something?" Cole mused and looked more at the picture of his unrecognisable brother.

Coulson shrugged, "-possibly, we haven't explored all plausible options but sources say that is a possibility. We know they are capable of communicating without the need for intergalactic devices, the neural link seems plausible."

"Yeah, I heard you mention something about a hive mind," Cole said rolling the thin can in his fingers, "-it's not the first time we've come against that term before."

"Hive mind, hmm, that would make them seem like the types you would normally overlook because of lack of thinking for themselves?" He said as he passed Cole a file that was solely on Jay since his corruption.

"A neural link gives them the edge. They can act of their own with or without the need for their mothership, they don't need direction unlike I would hazard a guess, a hive mind would?"

Cole stifled a yawn.

"Tired Cole?" Coulson smiled. "It'll be a busy day for your team, come tomorrow," He stated, motioning the two large men, " The director of SHIELD wants to interrogate you, all of you," he said as he nodded to the two armed men. Watching as they assisted Cole in standing.

"When Loki came through the same portal that you did, he looked like crap too."

"Gee thanks," Cole grumbled as he was hoisted up to standing, "You probably would as well."

"Sleep well Cole, tomorrow this interview will continue."


	3. Sneaky Coulson

_"Sodium pentothal,_ " Coulson stated clearly. He disposed of the syringe, "Truth serum to you and I."

He placed some music on, a deep bassy tune. "Plus, a little something to distract your brain waves from interfering with the _questioning techniques_." He sat back down opposite the black haired weaponless ninja.

Cole was currently dressed in black paraboots, STRIKE team combats and a tight black shirt with the SHIELD logo over his right breast. He didn't mind, it was his colour after all. He evidently had the physique of STRIKE team members too because the clothes were snug and comfortable.

"This tactic is far more humane than waterboarding too."

" _What?"_

"Agent Rollins seems to favour that particular way of getting people to speak, I guess you can blame that on his extensive Navy SEAL training."

None of what Coulson was saying had any effect on Cole so the middle-aged agent tried another technique, "Perhaps as extensive as your own training?"

"Mmmm, training." The master of earth was grinning, slowly and steadily slumping on the plastic chair. He felt like it was molding to his body or he was melting into it. The thing is, the chair itself looked and felt like it had the least amount of padding...It was the type of uncomfortable chair you'd expect to see in a school setting or canteen. It was hardly comfortable, but there was a reason for it. It was to prevent Cole from falling asleep.

Then there was the room he'd been put in. It was clinical in appearance with stainless steel cupboards and a solid metal table in the middle of the room. A large mirror took up the majority of the opposite wall and Cole through his time of being interrogated, he knew it was a two-sided contraption. Similar to the one in the wardens' office at Kryptarium. This room was closer in style to Cyrus Borg's inventing lab, minus the various inventions the genius, billionaire, innovative creator had made.

"Wh-why are you doing this?" Cole mumbled woozily, "What was th-that, and where the hell am I?"

Coulson was smirking, "It's used to weaken the resolve of a subject, thereby making them more compliant to the pressure of interrogation."

"And, this is SHIELD HQ, the Triskelion, Washington DC...you don't remember?"

"N-no..." Cole so wanted to wipe the smug grin off of Coulson's face but his arms felt too heavy, "I'm so...tired."

"That, I guess, is to be expected. Considering how you arrived on this planet."

It was all insinuation, SHIELD had no direct evidence except for the huge light show and large burst of unexplained energy. This was followed by power outages in their direct area at the time of their arrival. It was rumoured that this team of oriental inspired warriors had arrived through some type of portal or an intergalactic anomaly similar to how Loki had arrived, thus explaining their sickly grey pallor and hollow eyes.

It was also how Jay had arrived almost two weeks beforehand...but he arrived just before lunchtime, mid-week in Times Square. When he had arrived he looked like death, sweating and stumbling, the blue ninja looked like he was the main starter of some hideous pandemic.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Cole grunted out loud. "What makes you think we're from anywhere else?" The mention of Washington bore no semblance to any places he had ever heard of with that name.

Still, Cole was getting used to the definition here. It was surreal, everything was, textures were softer, lights were brighter. Even his skin felt dry and callous in areas, he knew he needed a shave too. He seemed to have three days worth of stubble on his face and now felt like he resembled a better looking Ronin.

Again, he used his hands, passing them in front of him, drifting them through the air. He watched with unrelenting fascination, it was like he could see each molecule hovering and leaving a starlit trail as he moved his hands through the screen and in front of his face. "Nngh, wh-what did you do to me?"

"Spoilers, and that is largely classified..." He said with an annoying vagueness until his earpiece alerted him to proceed and give the information required to avoid the same issue they faced last time. "Sorry, your unique gifts and the way you arrived here attest to the fact that you are most definitely not from earth, this is just a precautionary measure, Cole!"

"The effects are temporary and we gave you a lower dose than normal based on how well your vascular system reacted to it earlier."

"What?" Cole frowned in confusion. He was not happy at the fact that they had obviously been testing him whilst he was unable to fend them off. "What unique gifts, you mean our elements right?" he was mesmerised by his own glowing hands.

Normally, if he concentrated, Cole would be able to focus and keep the fists under control. But whatever he'd been injected with was revealing his power to everyone in the vicinity. The room was lit yellow because his hands were glowing.

"Indeed-" he nodded, "-not that we don't have our own supply of enhanced elementals here...on earth." He said quietly and heaved his black briefcase onto the table. The combination locks were hidden from Cole's view.

"Urth?" Cole repeated the word slowly. "Not Ninjago then?" He giggled.

The agent shook his head, "Earth," Coulson corrected gently, "-with an E.a.r.t and h. The third rock from the sun? You really don't know where you are, do you?"

Cole shook his head miserably, "No, I guess I don't."

The suited agent, whom identified himself as Phil Coulson was quick to explain because the medication in Cole's system wouldn't last long and could wear off at any given moment. "Earth is the third planet from the Sun and is the largest of the terrestrial planets in our solar system." He stated calmly.

The screen in front of Cole changed again and revealed exactly what Coulson had just uttered with some impressive in-depth detailed visual representations of the solar system. A system that bore no resemblance to his own realm.

"The Earth was formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago and was, up until recently, the only known planet known, to support life." He was scanning both index fingers on either side of the briefcase, enough of a security feature to open it.

"Uh, okay!" Cole thought how typical of this international conglomerate to have fingerprint tech on their briefcases too. It looked like everything had the same tech. Even the room they had found themselves in required some form of retinal scan, a level six clearance card and the ubiquitous fingerprint scanner.

"Unless you've had some form of head injury, all of you...this gives at least some concrete evidence that you are not of this planet?" Coulson took a deep breath in and released it slowly. "It's not the first time either, you'd be surprised to know..."

"Would I be surprised?" Cole asked himself.

"And, it makes it a little easier to give you an identity. Tie you in to the SHIELD accords and keep an eye on all of you whilst you're here." He removed a smallish folder with tabs sticking out.

"And, as you're likely to be staying here for a while..." he didn't elaborate on that either. "-it may be beneficial to enrol you all in some basic 101 lessons of our humanoid society. Otherwise, you'll never leave the confines of the Triskelion."

Cole was still staring wide-eyed at the solar system,"Wait, what?"

"You don't want to be kept in solitary confinement do you or indefinite quarantine?"

Cole shook his head, "I don't understand...We just want to get Jay back and go home."

"The only way to do that is to sign the accords," He said, pushing the paperwork to a dazed and confused Cole. "And, to agree to bring the blue elemental back here for further questioning...for his involvement in atrocities committed overseas."

The way he said that made Cole question Coulson's questionable morals. Exactly what did he want with Jay, other than the fact that he'd heard downwind that Jay had killed now double figures since being here...The three were unstoppable.

"Elementals, you call them elementals?" Cole grumbled as he felt his own fingerprints being taken.

Coulson had taken to opening a large manilla folder, whilst Cole struggled to look over the documentation in front of him. "We have many elementals here, some are deceased because the power consumed them."

"Such as?"

"Elements of what we would call chaos," Coulson offered but said no more.

"Chaos? Wh-what?"

"I'll get back to that-" he smiled weakly and took out a few photos, "-These, we define as having the power of cryokinesis. Your robot life form too, no less?"

"He has a name," Cole hissed and stiffened his posture as he looked through the sparse photos he had been given.

"I am sure he does but as he is offline whilst we work to repair him he is incapable of telling us. His power source is deeply fascinating though."

"Don't you dare touch him, you leave him alone," Cole was trying his hardest to be forthright and intimidating but the sodium pentothal had him slurring like he'd been partying far too hard.

"Easy there Cole-" Coulson soothed, "-we aren't doing anything untoward, tracking devices mainly. Of course, we've had no choice but to call in a specialist in the field of robotics, if only to get him back online...robots rarely lie...they all follow the basic programming."

Cole frowned at Coulson, "He's not a fucking robot...What specialist?" He slurred.

"Classified to you, you lack the relevant security clearance."

Coulson continued to flick through the folder, "He's fine and in relation to your earlier question; Yes, we refer to individuals with abilities as 'Enhanced,' mind you the last electro element we had, he brought New York to a complete standstill."

"Had? What do you mean had?" Cole was getting irate at the tone and questioning.

He didn't answer, just gave more pictures. Ones that were no longer classified because they were in the public domain. It was damned hard to classify such images when the fights that had happened had put such human life in peril. The general public put their own opinions out there and had come up with various conspiracies of government tampering with human genes and cloning. "Of course we don't always have a say in how we come by these powers do we? Some may be born with mutated genes, rapidly healing cells. Some may have been altered by others." Again he didn't clarify further.

"I uh, I don't understand." Cole knew that his elemental power came from his bloodline and likely from his mother. His father, as far as he was aware, shared no earthly attributes except for the fact that he didn't like to be anywhere other than grounded. "Who is that?"

"His name was Maxwell Dillon," Agent Coulson replied.

He revealed a picture of a man who was just glowing blue. Nothing to identify the man he had once been, he was just a man of pure energy. With the very clear stamped label of 'Deceased' across the picture. Evidently, someone had been stamp happy on that day. "He was the last man to wield electrical energy as his own, until your blue ninja came along."

Cole's eye's narrowed. Finally, someone was mentioning Jay, actually talking about him. Although it left a sour taste in his mouth for the tone in which Jay's appearance was being spoken of. It was anything but friendly. "En...enhanced?" Cole repeated with difficulty, "Jay doesn't just wield electricity; he controls it. He's the lightning ninja," he grinned, "-he can control it to his whim, take it in and direct it, hack into things and stuff."

"What the fu-. what am I saying?"

Coulson was still smiling, "Hmmm, a fascinating skill set he has then... We only touched on the basics of what he could do when he was under our control..." Coulson mused and procured another picture for Cole to look at.

"Under your control, are you fricking kidding me? If I can't control zaptrap, you've got no chance...idiots!" Cole laughed out and simultaneously turned beet red when he realised he'd just said that out loud.

"Internal monologue may be subdued too." Coulson smiled, "Sorry I forgot to mention that."

"Shit!"

"-So then there is Kai. His physiology and reactions to heat indicate he is a fire elemental. He can manipulate fire, pyrokinesis?" He questioned Cole with a gentle look upon his normally stoic face. "He was reluctant to talk even with this same serum. Seems his own elevated body temperature and enhanced physiology can burn it off faster, similarly so with Lloyd."

Coulson turned another few pages and offered Cole a picture of a man who was fully alight, head to toe on fire.

Cole wasn't sure if what he was seeing was made up or truth. The photos looked pretty real to him and he continued to stare at them. "What did you do to Kai, who is that?"

"Kai was running a temperature. Fan therapy did nothing to calm his fever, if anything it made it worse. So, we tried a new tactic...heat, and I'm happy to report that he's fitting in well. He's been signed up to take part in PT tomorrow."

"You, however, your element is most intriguing...your fists precisely."

"Uhm, right..." Cole looked nervous, "So err, who is th-this?"

"Mr Johnny Storm, he's in the public domain. He has nothing to hide and likewise, neither does SHIELD."

"Pfft, that his actual name?" Cole asked, but then kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to divulge Jay's full name nor his own. He didn't want to tell them anything but the more he tried to keep it in, the more it came spilling from his mouth.

"It is normal to feel like you've been hit by a truck...They say it's a similar feeling to extreme G-force or prolonged jetlag," Coulson offered with a half shrug.

"Urgh, what was in that needle?"

"Should be at it's most potent now. The barbiturates within the serum decrease higher cortical brain functioning." The agent stated, "Potentially, psychiatrists state that lying is more complex than telling the truth. So suppression of the higher cortical functions may lead to the uncovering of said truth."

"I feel like utter shit," Cole groaned. He could already feel the effects that this drug was having on him and it was by sheer luck that he hadn't flat out hurled all over himself nor the table. His stomach was still empty because he hadn't taken any food in, it would have only been bile anyway.

"The drug tends to make subjects loquacious and cooperative with interrogators." Coulson added.

"Besides, you've had plenty of rest...you've been out of it for two days. I'm guessing by however you travelled here, it must have taken a toll on your specific physiology?"

"Uh, I guess...two days?" Cole repeated, dumbstruck.

Coulson simply nodded, "So let's begin again...we believe that you and your team are hiding some rather important information from us."

"I don't think so. I told you everything I know...everything I knew."

Coulson tapped his earpiece, "Why don't you start from the beginning, how did you get here?"

Cole shook his head, his mind was going fuzzy. It felt like one too many hits from the bo staff, "I uh, I..."

The agent pressed a device on the table, "take your time Cole, we have all day, 72 hours to be precise and after that, we'll be releasing you to the US government to do as they wish."

Undeterred by the threat; Cole eased into the second round of questioning, "we found a blue cube..." he uttered.

He was aware that he was whispering but he was so relaxed there was no reason to shout out.

"Similar to this?" Coulson queried and the laser screen depicted an exact replica of the cube in question.

Cole nodded, "That's the one, we found it...during a mission." His words slurring slightly.

"Impossible, sources say there is only the one tesseract," he didn't divulge further.

"So it has a name then?"

"It does-" Agent Coulson replied calmly. "The Tesseract is the four-dimensional version of the energy-filled cube."

"But what does it do?"

"That's classified!"

Cole sighed, exasperation clear to see, "classified, hilarious. We got here using it, right?"

"The tesseract is to the cube; as the cube is to the square. Just as the surface of the cube consists of six square faces, the hypersurface of the tesseract consists of eight cubical cells. It's one of the six convex regular 4-polytopes."

"Nerd..."

Phil Coulson's eyebrow rose, "where did you find the energy stone known as the Tesseract, Cole?"

"Uhm you sound just like Jay and Zane, haaha," Cole's eyes were glazed over, "Well, we found the thing almost 200ft down. It was on a reef bed-" his grin was wide, he'd been mildly excited by the find, at the time. But as time passed he grew dubious of it and even more so when Jay vanished because of his insistence to tinker with it, against Zane's better judgement.

"-Jay tried to understand it, sent him here though. Zane went on the fritz and stuff, we...were almost contemplating switching him off. Funny but serious. Sent Jay here ya know.'"

"Cole, was the cube exactly the same as this one?"

"The exact same...cool." he ran his hands through the image, trying to grasp at the energy filled device. "Yeah, it sent Jay here. We came to bring him home. To get him back."

Coulson rubbed his face, "So what happened when you touched the twin of this cube?"

'The twin, so he's admitting there are two?' Cole thought back. The cube was still in the device the last time he checked.

Jay's homemade device. His pride and joy. The one piece of equipment that as yet, hadn't blown up with all of Jay's adaptations of it.

The cube had remained there since Jay had touched it because no one had dared mess with it since his disappearance. Zane couldn't physically grasp it because each time he did, the cube created anomalies. His system recognised exponential increases in power each time he neared the alien device. It was so apparent, the power transference interfered with his own element.

Upon trying to understand the cube, Zane had taken watch of it overnight. And the following morning he had woken up on the deck of the Bounty partially buried in snow drifts. It would have looked normal had it been winter but this was mid-spring and they were still on the warm coast. The Bounty looked like a winter wonderland.

Then, after numerous discussions, it was decided that the cube of unknown energy would be safer if it remained in that containment device. Least that way, it remained safe and they knew that Jay was somewhere on the other side of it. Another universe.

For the time being, it had been thoroughly covered and secured. Enough for it not to affect the Destiny's Bounty and the relevant flying and sensitive radar equipment on board.

Cole had only glanced at the thing, along with Lloyd. Both had been trying to understand it further and furthermore; both had felt a little guilty after leaving Jay to do it but their tinkering of it had revealed nothing out of the ordinary. All Cole saw was a glowing blue cube, awash with unnatural energy signatures. The swirling mass within the cube continued to move, it manipulated everything with electrical signatures within the vicinity.

"When we touched it?" Cole repeated slowly, "No, I didn't touch it, Jay did."

Agent Coulson, was a middle-aged man. Very smartly dressed and exceptionally fit for his age, "You opened a portal?"

Cole shook his head vehemently, "No, I...I didn't."

"An interdimensional portal, linking worlds to those believed hidden or lost?"

"I-I guess. Zane did it really." Cole was smiling, "but it was the only way to get Jay back."

"Why don't you tell me what happened before you got here."

"The morning was just like any other-" Cole said. His angered voice was subdued by the serum, "-Sunrise exercise as usual. Up on deck at 5am. Breakfast and plans of rescue."

"What happened Cole?"

He closed his eyes and leaned back on the chair, "We didn't know what happened. We knew, well, we assumed Jay was okay."

"We have a device you see, one that lets everyone on our ship know...locations, health, status and stuff.

"Most companies who value their employees have the same, nowadays-" Coulson nodded, "-You were saying?"

"We noticed that Jay's coloured beacon had changed. But it was weeks after he'd vanished. We saw his beacon, we thought he was sort of safe and trying to find a way back. After a few weeks, we didn't hear back, the cube wasn't sending a signal from our end. It was barely blue, so we waited. It took nine weeks for it to activate again and as soon as it did...like the very day it activated again, Jay's beacon changed colour to purple."

"The day he was taken," Coulson admitted, looking down.

_"Come on guys, we need to go now!" Lloyd said as they all surrounded the thing, "-Zane, just push the button, we need to get him back."_

_"Whatever happens, do not let go." Zane warned._

_That was the last thing he said. Arms all interlinked tightly until the power of the infinity stone pulled at them faster than they could anticipate._

_It was so powerful, they got a taste of the energy that Jay would have felt and consumed. The power ripped them apart, altering their appearances without the slightest realisation. Eventually, their embraces were torn asunder by the power within the cube. It slowed their descent enough for them to see where they had been and where they were heading._

_A planet, green and blue, not too dissimilar to Ninjago. Although this planet seemed much larger than their homeworld there was considerably more landmass to it._

_If Cole had been capable of speech he would have mumbled something along the lines of more earth. But he found that his voice wouldn't come. None of their voices would come._

_They could barely breathe._


	4. Zane meets Tony Stark

"How can you understand me?" Cole mumbled through his drugged haze.

"Fury mentioned something about universal tongue, or All Speak." Rumlow said quietly. He spoke as if what he was saying was highly classified. That fact was further exacerbated by Rollins stern glare.

"The way you claim to have got here-" Rollins said, equally as subdued, "-that device, it's not from earth. It wasn't made on this planet and that's all we know...maybe ask Fury later?"

Both well muscled men were hauling Cole around the corner and down a long corridor to where his sleeping quarters were located. Cole's new quarantined, secured and highly guarded sleeping quarters were complete with hidden cameras and a two way mirror.

"So err, what type of disturbance was it?" Rumlow queried his lower ranking officer. He was obviously capable of having two conversations at the same time, as well as being able to hoist Cole up.

The slick haired Rollins was taking the other side with relative ease. "Come on big guy, let's get you back to your room, eh?"

"Shit, I told you that water boarding was the best way to get the truth!" Rollins added.

Rumlow was shaking his head at Rollins black humour, "you're sick, he'd be a blubbering wreck."

"Try me, you'd be surprised-" Cole slurred sightly and his head was lolling, "I get my own room too? Aww sweet!"

"Yeah, it saves you sharing a containment cell again or from peeing in a bucket."

Cole mumbled something incoherent under his breath.

"So, was it a SHIELD seven threat, like you'd get from Xavier's mutant academy?" Another subordinate queried and the younger inexperienced agent guffawed at the entirely inappropriate humour. Both younger recruits were keeping the two main STRIKE team members covered in case this enhanced creature decided to start an unprovoked attack. "You mean like last time when their mutants got outta hand and almo..."

Cole had flinched at the term afforded to him and his 'd never been called anything other than his name or one of the ninja, so to be referred to as a mutant was somewhat offensive.

"Jameson?" Rollins sneered down his nose at the younger recruit.

Cole and his teams' arrival had evidently created further tensions, these were more than likely attributed to Jay's arrival and further disappearance.

Rumlow's top lip curled into a vicious snarl, "JAMESON, SHIELD doesn't call them that...you complete dick," his sneer almost burned the younger recruit to the spot, "-and don't let Fury hear you saying that."

"Yeah, you'll be put in extra PT classes faster that you can say STRIKE keg parties."

"Sorry sir-" Jameson had uttered quietly before looking back at the partially restrained man, "-sorry Cole."

"The disturbance Jameson?" Rumlow urged him on, motioning him to continue.

"Uhm, the disturbance, it was more like a massive multicoloured light show. Harlem was lit up with bright lights instead of gunfire for a change." The young agent seemed to visualise with his hands, in an effort to describe the events that had revealed what SHIELD had revealed was a level eight threat.

"They could've been celebratin early?" Rumlow offered. He swiped his card on Cole's new sleeping quarters.

"What, three months early? Please," Rollins said.

Both were linking arms through Cole's. They were gently frogmarching him into his new sleeping quarters, these ones were more friendly in comparison to the holding cells they'd woken up in. These rooms actually had beds...albeit single ones. Metal fronted cabinets and touch sensitive doors that opened to reveal his own bathroom.

It was incredibly minimalist with clean sleek lines that Cole instantly liked. "Single beds?" He asked, quietly.

"SHIELD probably has the highest recruited amount of single men in the world," Rumlow stated, "-double suites are only available to married couples...who have nothing better to do than live here."

"Not that any married couples would want to stay here anyway," Rollins countered.

"Haa, free accommodation though?" Rumlow interjected.

Jack Rollins had loosened his grasp on Cole's waist. They all squeezed though the single door before it had the chance to close on it's own. "Actually more like free wake-up calls at 5am and Fury breathing down your neck 24/7!"

"Do you guys live here?" Cole queried. He still bore the appearance of someone who looked washed out and at deaths door.

"Ha, no," Rumlow and Rollins said in unison.

"Being part of SHIELD. Well STRIKE get a pretty good pay packet. Enough to not have to live on campus," Rumlow answered truthfully, partially bragging. He was walking arm in arm with Cole, now he was taking Cole's full weight.

Rollins took the opportunity to point to various cupboards and drawers that he hoped Cole would notice the multitude of new outfits were located. These had obviously all been based on Cole's bodily measurements. Or more precisely the measurements that SHIELD had taken when he was unconscious for forty eight hours..

The master of earth had far less restraint now. He was still under heavily armed guard just now he had his arms untethered minus the damned plastic cord ties that made him feel like a convict than a literal extra terrestrial...He hated the word alien, it reminded him of green creepy guys, the types he'd seen back in the cinema's of Ninjago.

"So uhm, I know what SHIELD means, what does STRIKE mean?"

"It's the Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies." Rumlow muttered loud and proud. He was one of STRIKE's main leaders, closely supported by Jack Rolllins, the main man for physical training and mixed martial arts classes. "-Short and sweet, it's a counter-terrorist Special Mission Unit."

"And, only new recruits tend to live here..." Jameson said, his voice was barely heard across the booming sounds coming from outside the window.

"So, will SHIELD or STRIKE be letting us go anytime soon?" Cole queried, craning his aching neck to talk to the two burly men who were quite the imposing figures in his minimalist room.

Both STRIKE leaders were milling around Cole's quarters. Rollins shook his head slowly, "Not until SHIELD know of your intentions whilst you're here."

"This being, because red was so reluctant to spill the beans." Brock Rumlow finished Rollins sentence, "Coulson thought it, suspicious activity...almost similar to that of blue bird."

"Kai won't spill anything...unless he's bleeding to death and even then he'd probably do it with a mixture of expletives thrown in for good measure..." Cole shook his head at the memory that was triggered. The image itself of Kai being tied up to the underside of Arcturus's rocket thrust chambers. That in itself was testament to his sheer bloody mindedness. And, his complete and utter reluctance to tell them what they wanted to know. 'Thank god they didn't threaten Nya, that would have been deadly.'

"-Our intentions?" Cole turned his nose up again, "-thought it was obvious, we came to get Jay back."

"Jay, he's the blue bird?" Rollins asked, eyes narrowed as he turned to face Cole. "Got quite a set of pipes on him."

Rumlow chuckled, he was busy releasing the electronic entertainment section for Cole to use whilst he was being roomed in.

'Wow, no wonder Jay didn't come back...'

"Well, he was the blue bird," Agent Jameson said quietly when Cole refused to answer, "Hear he's a little green round the edges now though!"

Cole didn't understand the reference at all. He knew that Jay had been altered, that was fairly obvious when they were still on the Bounty. His coloured beacon had changed un-naturally from blue to green before settling on a miniature swirling purple beacon.

It was Zane that had assumed the worst, and, as yet, none of his team knew what was happening, no one had mentioned much except for Coulson yesterday. And even he had been purposefully vague. Cole thought that maybe this Coulson dude didn't have enough security clearance to divulge such matters of global security. And that maybe this SHIELD organisation were bringing in the big guns.

"Yeah technically you guys are aliens. Means that you'd be tested on if the US government got downwind that you're here."

Cole gave a half laugh, "What type of testing? That sort of standard protocol then?"

"Oh ya know, a little dissecting. Biopsies, sampling, reckon HYDRA would give their back teeth to get their hands on you lot, blue one especially."

"They'd soon get bored. Don't think there's much difference in our physical attributes." Cole shivered momentarily. The mention of dissecting made his skin crawl "Why's HYDRA and SHIELD so fascinated with Jay?"

"You don't know do ya?" Rumlow gave a dark laugh, "You'll find out later but in the mean time." He pressed a slow metal door, it opened slowly and revealed a fridge behind it. Bending down, he retrieved a tray that looked like it belonged in an army mess or prison canteen. This one, luckily had moderately edible looking food atop of it...good portion sizes too.

Cole was happily relieved that the food looked good.

Apprehensively, he sniffed the foodstuff and took a tentative bite of the foot long Sub. "Mmmm finally...some good food." He groaned out his appreciation and didn't care that he was still being watched. "What?-" He mumbled between bites, "-you never saw a man eat before?"

"At least you identify yourself as male then?" Rumlow teased and tossed a triple chocolate muffin, "There ya go, beefcake."

"Please, stop with the pet names..." He mumbled between bites with one hand on his sub. Cole opened the plastic wrapped muffin and again, he sniffed it. "So what can I call you guys? Is it just Rumlow and Rollins?" He questioned after gulping down mouthfuls of the carbonated soft drink, belching quietly with the excessive fizz.

"You can call me Brock." Rumlow said, "-Rollins however, he likes to be called Rollins."

"Depending on his good or bad days." Jameson mumbled, "Sometimes it's Agent Rollins."

"Say hello to your PT instructor." Jack Rollins said, cocking his head to the side, "New recruits are due for training 7am sharp. You'll be expected too, ground floor gymnasium...don't be late," he warned.

"Great thing about PT...tomorrow is cross country. we get to run a five-mile trek of the Potomac River."

"Great, I can't wait," Cole replied sarcastically. He was standing after devouring his sub and had walked to the window. Staring outside, all he could see was a concrete jungle only separated with green grass and trees. A long winding interstate stood out clearly. And in the distance, there was a vast city, the height of the skyscrapers far surpassed that of Ninjago or Metallonia. "How big is this facility, will we be getting a tour?"

Rollins was grinning, the appearance of such a smile sent shivers down Cole's spine, "Oh, you'll be getting a tour alright!"

"Because it's considered as an icebreaker, to make us feel less like dangerous aliens?" Cole replied.

"No, because you'll probably be here for the foreseeable future."

"Haa, we're not planning on staying that long," Cole retorted.

Brock Rumlow, with his hard but rugged appearance, gave a dark ironic laugh, "Haa, SHIELD aren't gonna let you go that easy."

Cole was leaning heavily against the floor length windows, "wh-what do ya mean?" He had turned from the window, arms crossed staring straight at both well-muscled men.

"Brock's got it in one. You ain't going anywhere, sweetheart!"

"If anything...you're more than likely to be given a handler. That way SHIELD can keep tabs on you and your team."

"Handler, what's a handler? I'm not dangerous...is this like the SHIELD accords that Coulson mentioned?"

"You're all enhanced aren't ya?" Rollins said with a casual shrug, "So, a handler is someone who oversees you, gives you your own protection and affords you with an alias so you aint dissected the minute you get given your first mission."

"Enhanced?"

"Elemental abilities?" Rollins offered, cocking his head.

"Bluebird had one, Coulson oversaw him. He was a real live wire." Brock, was quick to retrieve some more outfits for Cole. Joggers and tank tops for physical training. "Also, the accords, they help to keep tabs on the enhanced. Those 'so-called heroes' that like to live under the radar of SHIELD, they seem to dodge the accords."

Cole rolled his eyes at the pun. He didn't say anything but did acknowledge the additional clothes he was furnished with. SHIELD didn't have to give him or his teammates clothes, or food for that matter but the thought was nice regardless. "So you'd want us to sign up for something that makes you know our every whereabouts. Wouldn't that mean that you'd be trying to own us, in a sense?"

"Get some rest Princess. SHIELD's director Fury wants to speak to you and your team later."

"Really, no answer to that huh?" Cole sighed, "-what about my brothers, Nya? Or what Coulson wanted to discuss?"

"Coulson's on the Helicarrier now...looks like they captured the Asgardian, though the other two are still MIA-" Brock Rumlow turned to face Cole as he stood in the doorway, "-And, relating to your team; all have been roomed into their own accommodations, just like you," He held up a key card for Cole, "The robot, however, we're waiting for the CEO of Stark Industries to arrive."

"Thought that was classified?" Cole raised an eyebrow, he didn't take the card but watched as Brock Rumlow placed it down next to his bed. "What exactly does a chief exec want with Zane?"

"He wants to help...he's been offline since you were brought in," Brock stated, walking out of the room. Turning on his heels, "-ya know Cole, Coulson can seem strict and overbearing, but he's nothing compared to Director Fury."

Jack Rollins was hot on his tail with the two younger soldiers in tow, "Cole, just cooperate. The sooner you tell Fury what he wants to know, the sooner we can integrate you into SHIELD. Otherwise, you'll be experimented on...if HYDRA get hold of ya..." A glimpse of recognition was shared between the two STRIKE operatives.

And that was it, Cole had been left alone. Even more confused than before but now with a pounding headache. He watched as his door closed on its own and then locked as a little red light flickered on above it.

It was hydraulically sealed tight. Cole was going nowhere, not until he was needed anyway.

Cole noted that on his metal bedside cabinet, he'd been left a level 2 keycard. It gave him access to the bathroom and to the vending machine in his room. All he had in his room was a stereo and a television which when he switched on, he realised he had too many channels to choose from.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

, Of course, he wasn't the only one to be under armed guard, Zane was too.

This was only because the last robot SHIELD came across, it tried to kill everyone in the vicinity of a small town in New Mexico. Prior to that was the introduction of Tony Starks' first prototype's, these ones had gone rogue. Then there was Asgard's very own Destroyer. Loki had sent the Destroyer to decimate Thor, he didn't care that earthlings would be flattened in the process because this was a war between Gods.

A war for the throne, for the seat of power.

Zane was in the lab being worked on carefully by SHIELD's best operatives. Tony Stark had even had some type of conference call with the lab techs. He was on the way anyway. Intrigued to see an actual walking entity that was capable of free thinking. Something that was so much more advanced than his own prototypes.

"Can JARVIS stay with it? He might be able to get some more information from the robot life form?"

"Mr Stark," The female technician started.

"Tony," he said in a cheesy tone, a smug grin on his face, "-call me Tony."

"Tony, the life form identifies himself as male. He has a name."

"Intriguing that a mechanical life form identifies itself with a specific gender and name?"

"Yes sir..."

"Tony," he corrected gently.

"Tony, Mr Stark sir, he refers to himself as Zane."

"Cool, in that case then. Can you tell Phil that I'm on my way in?"

"No can do, Sir. Coulson is en-route to the helicarrier. Oh and by the way...if you're driving, the secure compound access codes have changed!"

"No," Tony said, a smug grin on his handsome face, "I'm flying in, more efficient!"

"Mr Stark, we need to talk." Came another more urgent voice through his comms device in his exoskeleton ironman suit.

Tony frowned at the masculine voice now battering his eardrums, "Uh security breach, J.A.R.V.I.S," He was still flying en-route to Washington DC. Usually, he'd have taken a private jet "Yeah, you have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark." He said with the same cocky grin as before, "-but please leave a message."

"This is urgent, Mr Stark."

"Then leave your message urgently," Tony smiled, and sighed as he gathered additional imagery required to understand the cube better. "Is this about the Avengers again? Which I admit, I know nothing about." He said, lying on purpose. He was asking the female, specifically the female who was being directly patched through to his communication device.

"Phil, would know all about that Tony, Sir."

"Phil, I thought his first name was Agent?" He bit his lip and stifled his crude heckling laughter because he wanted to tease her further. "The Avengers initiative was scrapped, I thought. And I didn't even qualify." Tony replied in a childish tone, feigning hurt.

"Sir?"

"Apparently...according to Romanov, I'm volatile, self-obsessed, and don't play well with others." His dark laugh could be heard clearly.

"Strange because you were so willing to train the blue one a few weeks ago." The same masculine tone came through.

"Well Coulson, I did help train him until he went rogue...And I was just getting to know him too, would have made an excellent apprentice."

Coulson's clear and well-spoken voice came through clearly, as did the loud sounds of some rather large turbine engines being powered up. "You might have to stay with the robot until Director Fury arrives. I'm ETA in a few hours if I'm lucky."

A few hours later and Tony Stark was in the laboratory, with Zane's open panel in front of him. Revealing the familiar but alien looking power sources. He tinkered with the blue stone within Zane's chest for a few minutes and no more. "Good as new right?"

"The good thing about the Arc reactor, Zane..." Tony Stark said clearly. Screwdriver and welding torch in hand, "-my father invented it and I improved it, making it into a miniaturised electromagnetic device...Clean energy source too." He said, pointing at his chest.

"Why would you need to do that?" Zane asked, turning his head ninety degrees without any difficulty. "Does it not hurt to have it so close to your body?"

"You know, Zane, I've got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart," Tony pointed at the mini-arc reactor that resided on his sternum.

Zane stared at it in amazement. The immediate design of it reminded him so much of his own power source, "so this powers your suit and protects your heart?"

"Actually, this little device stops it...the further trajectory...Yes, in a way it protects my heart." Tony had pulled his shirt tighter to allow for the pale glowing blue light to shine through the black jersey material. "This little circle of light. It's part of me now, not just armour. It's a... terrible privilege."

"Indeed, fascinating though-" Zane mumbled, "-but you can control it?"

Tony Stark nodded, "I can control it because I learned how. I would hazard a guess and say you too, learned how to control your unique gifts?"

Zane looked down, his expression seemed difficult to read, "-it is different. I am not a man in a metal suit, the machinery does not define me, as I believe, it does with you."

"Hmm, interesting concept your father had."

Zane nodded. "I was built by my father to protect. I thought myself as a highly logical person until I found out the truth."

"Did you feel betrayed, lied to, Did you want retribution and revenge on those who lied to you?"

Eyes narrowing, Zane looked at the man in his midst. "No, why would I?"

"Just curious Zane." Tony stark closed the front panels, "Trying to work out your objectives and what drives you. Ya know, Loki wants retribution, revenge, control, you name it and he wants it...all because he was lied to."

"We are only here to bring our brother home," Zane offered truthfully, "My...our only objective is this."

"I get it," Tony said. His voice and tone down to earth. "You've got something we're still trying to achieve and maintain. You've all got a bond, friendship. You trust each other?"

"Thank you, we do...implicitly-" Zane said, his tone quiet, "-And, in the face of adversity, it is all we have."

"In that case, I hope you succeed..." Tony Stark smiled, "And Zane, you might not remember this meeting. Your power source was drained...but I'll be sticking around for a while. I'll be meeting you and your team later, I hope."


	5. Meeting the CEO of SHIELD Dir. Fury

Cole had been able to liaise with his brothers and Nya, though it wasn't under pleasant circumstances nor was it a relaxed environment. And now they were all about to be placed in an interrogation room. Largely due to the fact that their individual responses to the arduous questioning were pretty much the same; regardless of who was being questioned. 

The only one who refused to say much; was Kai, but after a morning full of repetition he soon gave the information required. Albeit, the minimal amount allowed.

This time, the whole group of Ninja; minus Jay, were together.

All sitting around a large metal table, thankfully unrestrained. And, for a change, the chairs were actually comfortable too. In fact, it looked remarkably like an office suite or conference room to Cole. Something similar to what he'd seen in Borg's offices, back home. The type of room where Borg would meet with his board members, usually to discuss new product lines or company shares.

"I've already told ya, we came here to get him back and when we do; we're leaving," Kai said disinterestedly. He took a good mouthful of cooled water, enough to cool him down for a few minutes more.

"It's not going to be that easy..." Coulson stated, cocking his head. "You haven't been properly briefed have you?"

"Obviously we've not been briefed because all you've been doing is questioning us to see if we're friend or foe." Kai couldn't even look at the men in the room. Instead, he pinched his brow. "Why isn't it that easy?" 

"We, as yet, don't know where he is," Nick Fury said, cutting them off mid-rant. "His whereabouts seem to fluctuate, as does the man he stays close to. Off radar, hidden."

Kai's grip on his beaker increased and the thing almost cracked in his grasp.

Cole could tell that was the icing on the cake for not only Kai but for the whole team. How could they have possibly lost Jay? It was unfathomable how they could lose someone as valuable as him. A person who wasn't even from this world. Cole thought that perhaps they would have given Jay the same security afforded to them. Made him stay here under lock and key, training him and making him fight for them...making him fight a war that wasn't his own!

"What do you mean you don't know where he is?" Cole shouted at the man with the eye patch, completely unaware of who he was.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like that...something happened, it was out of our control." The younger agent argued SHIELD's case.

"But you lost him, you lost Jay?" Kai shouted equally shocked, "-I just don't know how...I just..." he shook his head in disbelief. Palms turned upwards in exaggeration.

Fury nodded his head. A single nod to allow the agent who was speaking to divulge the added information to spur on the ninja's interest in joining the same fight.

"He was fighting for us for over a week," He offered weakly. "He may or may not have been fatally wounded during a particular nasty invasion, since then we've had no news."

Cole's eyes had widened at that speck of information. They mentioned something about the fact that Jay had only been here for a couple of weeks yet in Ninjago it seemed like it was nine weeks ago that he'd vanished. This alluding to the fact that there were some serious time anomalies going on here and in their own realm.

The agent looked back at the ninja but now he chose to look at Zane and Lloyd because their eyes weren't burning a literal hole in his head. "There is a rumour that Loki took him and in doing so, his mind may have been altered by the sceptre." He swallowed nervously, "-of course, the good news is that he is evidently still alive, the bad news is that he is almost as strong as..."

"Wait, what?" Kai muttered, cutting the agent off mid-flow. He sat up straight, "So his mind was altered?" he exchanged a concerned glance with Lloyd but the blonde master was evidently still taking it all in. He looked incredibly ill to Kai, so pale and lifeless. Maybe he was biding his time, thinking what to say that possibly would give more answers.

"Ahem, Loki also managed to capture one of our own in the same way. Hawkeye was also taken," the agent stated as if to make a point that Loki was a very determined villain, usually getting what he wants regardless of injury to the majority of people who tried to stop him.

"How the hell was he able to get Jay in the first place?" The master of fire quizzed, only half believing it. This whole thing sounded contrived, or that Jay was set up to fail on purpose.

"We made an error of judgement, simply put...we shot at him, thinking we could take him down with force but it appeared, he is bulletproof."

"You shot at who...Jay, or this Loki dude?" Cole asked, nervously. He wasn't liking where this conversation was heading.

"Look, Cole, I really don't give a shit about Loki or anyone else for that matter," Kai fumed, "-we want Jay back, NOW." He stated, his arm draped around Nya's shoulder squeezing and consoling as best he could. 

"We shot at Loki, only at him." The younger Agent offered. "And I'm sorry, you're all finding out like this, we didn't even know you existed until you arrived a few days after he did."

Nya had thought that this would have been a fairly straightforward rescue. Not realising that this world they had found themselves in was likely four times bigger than their own. She hadn't even contemplated that this place had its own global troubles to deal with. Ninjago seemed so quiet and trouble free in comparison.

"Kai?" Zane scolded, before turning to look at both agents and the man with the eye-patch, "-I-I apologise for Kai, for he is anxious to hear of Jay's unexpected disappearance."

"My name is Director Fury," He said in an emotionless voice.

"Director, I apologise," Zane noted that the man with the eyepatch wouldn't give his first name, which meant he didn't trust them enough to divulge more than he needed to, "Director Fury, if I may, how can we be of assistance? We possess no superhuman strength or remarkable abilities."

"Haa, speak for yourself Tinman..." Cole chortled under his breath, pursing his lips when Zane frowned back at him.

The younger agent spoke for the Director. "We need re-enforcements, our team could always use additional fighters," He took out three separate photographs and laid them on the table, "-These three, including Hawkeye, are almost unstoppable."

"Almost," Cole repeated. "Meaning that what, a couple of them can be hurt if you get close enough?"

Cole shivered with the implications of that. He didn't really want to injure his own brother. Yet, he had no idea of the hold that this Loki person had on his best friend and that scared him more than anything else. 

Fury had said nothing, he was still looking down his nose at the assembled ninja before him. Wondering if this was going to be a bad idea, considering these seemed just as cocky as the blue one had been previously.

The banter went back and forth with increasing repetition. Cole now had an inkling of just how bad this whole thing was. It wasn't going to be an easy retrieval and, if they really wanted Jay back, they would more than likely have a massive fight on their hands.

"He can be hurt, he's been wounded once already." Fury reiterated.

"But we don't want to hurt him." Cole replied harshly, "he's our brother."

"He's also a wanted accomplice, he's killed 39 people to date and he has no remorse," Fury stated coldly, "-besides, you might not have a choice...you might be the only ones who can take him down." He countered, turning away. Fury motioned the other agents out of the room with him.

"Give you some time to talk it through, you know the score, Cole." Coulson winked at the black haired team leader and followed his superior from the room.

Cole wasn't sure if the room had built in microphones, he wouldn't put it past them. So he leaned across his seat, whispering into Kai's ear. "Dude, this is bad, this is so bad Kai."

Kai barely looked up, head in his hands. "I know, what are we supposed to do though? Ha, we can stay here and not fight, in which case, we'll be some type of lab rat experiment, or they'll hand us over to some industry."

Cole placed his hand on Kai's shoulder, a sympathetic gesture and he could feel how tense the master of fire was, with all this new info relating to Jay.

"I really don't think they'd stoop that low." Cole leaned back into Kai's ear, "Or we accept their offer and terms and train like they ask?"

Kai grumbled to himself, taking another drink.

"Maybe gain their trust and then do some of our own recon work...ya know after hours?" Cole smirked. "Play the system a bit?"

"Ooh, I like your thinking," Kai smirked as the agents and Director walked back into the room after some heated discussion.

Fury was the one to speak, "it would be in the best interests for you to join forces so we can rectify this problem quickly and send you on your way, once everything is settled."

The ninja shuffled in their seats, thinking briefly about the potential implications of helping an alien race defeat another strange race, with untold outcomes, it didn't sound very promising. And it seemed like this director was keeping something from them.

The agent flicked through Jay's thin classified file. "Now, I'm not saying this will be easy but if we work together and keep our team members in check then you'll get what you want and vice versa. You'll get Jay back and we'll get the war criminal known as Loki."

"Define, getting him back?" Lloyd asked with his eyebrow raised testing the man with the eyepatch.

Fury didn't answer, he chose to forgo that question.

"Do you even have the cube here?" Lloyd asked, biting his lip to avoid his over anxious emotions spilling over.

Fury shook his head. "It was stolen," he was vague for a reason. The location of Project PEGASUS was highly classified. Their site in the Mojave Desert had been flattened by the Tesseract, when Loki had taken it from its housing.

"Loki has it," Zane deduced by Fury's reluctance to spill the truth. "So, if we find Jay in this fight we will need to take him down too." 

"Wait what?" Kai sat bolt upright. "Zane, you've gotta be kidding right?"

Zane frowned in realisation to what he had just uttered. "I am sorry brothers, _Nya_. If this is the only outcome possible then we have no alternative."

The ninja all stopped mumbling when Coulson spoke. All sorry eyes on him in a vain hope that what he said next wasn't going to seal Jay's fate, once and for all. "It might not come to that extreme. You only need to separate them, Loki won't have them all together, he's calculated and deceptive."

" _Only_..." kai grumbled.

The director spoke again. "These are level four passes," he said, passing each a key card but not letting it go. "I don't suppose you can furnish me with your names? Jay was reluctant to do so during our interrogation of him."

"Well I'm not surprised, I mean you did say you tranquillised and cuffed him without telling him who you all were," Cole said nonchalantly as he tried to understand how Nick Fury had still lost his brother.

"It was a necessity, he was armed and dangerous."

"HE WAS SCARED!" Kai countered angrily, "And you shot at him."

"Kai please, this isn't helping any," Lloyd spoke so quietly that only few could hear him. His hand was placed firmly on Kai's forearm, " We can speak about this later."

"Your names?" Fury repeated, undeterred by the lack of restraint that the red-clad ninja was displaying.

"Fine my name's Cole, tinman here is Zane, red one Kai, green Lloyd and red blue is Nya. You've already met our resident loud mouth, Jay."

A few minutes later and after all had been given keycards, signing for them and them treated as humans again. Fury changed his tone slightly. 

"Maybe you'd prefer a change of scenery, for a few hours anyway?" Fury said, leading the assembled team to a helicopter. 

Turning to face his security personnel and lesser officers. "Agent Smith and Hill, these ones will all need handlers. Enhanced or not, these guys just appeared, we can't be doing with a high-level SHIELD threat, not with everything as it is at the moment."

"Blood tests and tissue samples too, sir?"

Fury nodded his head, "As many as you can, we need to know what we're up against here, anomalies, strengths and weaknesses."


	6. Uh, Jay's gone incommunicado

None of the ninja had dared move. They'd been brought into a room with two much older men who seemed at each other's throats because of one sceptre and one mischievous god. The very same one that had brained Jay into believing his rhetoric bullshit. 

It was him, Loki. He was partly responsible for all this destruction and the sheer loss of life that the ship had sustained. Well, he had help apparently. This was the second Helicarrier he'd attacked, and now, it was limping back to port at the Triskelion. Unbeknown to Jay, his brothers were on this one when Loki had attacked it.

"Best to leave them to it really, testosterone at its worst..." She stated, opening the door and leading them away from the potential scuffle that was about to take place.

"They're normally a little more reserved than this," Agent Hill, said with a disapproving glare which went by completely unnoticed by the squabbling men and solitary red-haired woman.

Cole could see they had all been in a fight of some sort. Recent, by the looks of their wounds and torn uniformed attire. They all looked a little rough around the edges, a bit bloodied up. The assembled group of remaining heroes were completely oblivious to the ninja who were standing in their midst.

Quickly, they were ushered into the main corridor. Away from the squabbling adults that should have known better.

Now clear of the room, Lloyd felt more at ease. "What happened in there?" He was the first to notice and the first to ask. It was clear to see, you could cut the tension with a knife.

Cole squinted his eyes and took a further peek into the room where the strangely uniformed heroes were amassed, well two of them were if the female could be considered in the same class. The glass panel had smashed behind them and there was a cradle that had once held something of great importance, that was now missing.

In the background, away from the arguing few, stood a full colour transparent visual display stand. It only displayed one thing, the picture slowly turning so as the object could be studied in further detail. Cole recognised it as a weapon, first and foremost. The end of it had two macabre blades that were meant for stabbing or slicing. It wasn't a close range weapon but it looked like it could have fit on that cradle perfectly.

"What is that thing on the display screen?"

"That's classified information, don't think you have the security clearance to know that." Brock Rumlow stated, waving his ident card.

Cole turned his gaze back to the object. "Ya know, if you want us to help you, then you're gonna need to trust us. We're not here to cause trouble, we've already told you this."

"It was set up, a ploy," Zane offered, looking around, finding and placing clues together. "A well thought out plan to destroy the ship and recover a very important component. A familiar blue cube."

Everyone in the room glared at Zane, except for his own kin. "I apologise, I am just piecing together the whole picture."

"I kind of wish you wouldn't," Brock stated, glaring daggers.

Unperturbed by Brock's show of male machismo, Cole stood forward, covering Zane's right flank. "Was there any other evidence, ya know to suggest who did it?"

"What, like a body?" Agent Hill scoffed.

"A dead body?" Kai asked, intrigued.

"No a body of water," Cole guffawed elbowing Kai in the ribs. "Yes, a dead body, dumb ass."

"There was a dead body, a few actually."

"What, well who did it?" Lloyd asked, equally as shocked. "Being that clues can be found on the body."

"Yeah, like Cluedo, Mustard, in the library with a lead pipe." Brock shook his head, hand firmly on the taser.

"Thank you, Lloyd, Brock...The only possible assailants are Hawkeye and..." Zane paused, his eyebrows bunched. "Jay."

"Oh shit..." Cole deadpanned, stance maintained he looked like he'd taken a blow to the gut. "How many Zane?"

"On this ship alone? Twenty-nine casualties. Jay's file registers, thirty-seven civilian casualties."

"So far..." Agent Hill stated.

Brock was quickly doing the slit throat sign but his brothers stood around Zane to protect him.

"If you keep the secret, I can work it out, so it really pays to either improve your onboard security systems."

Standing in front of Zane for his own protection from being tasered. "Or spill the beans..." Kai said, arms crossed. "You even try that and you'll regret it."

Agent Hill looked at the aggravated stance of four of the five ninja in her midst, she needed these warriors to take the blue one down. Not to frighten them off further. "Stand down Brock, get these agent's level five clearance and get em up to speed on what we're up against."

Cole eyed Brock's level six card. "What does a level five pass get ya?"

"Freedom, in a sense. You aren't restrained to SHIELD HQ, it means you can go exploring as long as you agree to carry an ident chip on your person at all times."

"Okay, sure, count me in..." Cole being the first to offer rather than be stuck in SHIELD HQ for another night being prodded and poked like a guinea pig. "Like I said, we're not here to cause you guys any trouble."

One thing they'd all been told, Loki was very persuasive. He'd even managed to coerce, by force; a brainwashed blue ninja into his servitude. If Jay hadn't been injured first he would have fallen, eventually. There was only so much brainwashing an individual could take before they lost the plot. Pain had weakened his morale and so, Jay fell quickly.

"So where's Jay?" Kai asked, growing impatient with the games and no-shows. "Did you say Loki was on board?"

"We don't know his current whereabouts. Any of them," Maria Hill said, swiping her security clearance to get them out of the corridor without any incidents erupting. She motioned to the main security containment in the floating fortress. Leading them down various corridors until they came to a standstill at a circular hole in the floor. Some impressive hydraulic clasps seemed to be fit to hold something in place. But there was nothing there anymore.

"Impressive hydraulic system. This held something substantial?"

"It did," She nodded. "This is where Loki was," Taking a deep breath, pointing around her, "-and this is where he left," She said, pointing to a broken panel in the reinforced metal supporting wall. Whatever had gone through that wall had gone through at some force. "It's not been repaired yet because it doesn't affect the hull's integrity."

There was blood on the floor too, a hefty supply of it but yet, no body to accompany it. Maria wanted to ignore that the blood was there, it still hadn't been cleaned.

"What happened here?" Cole asked, unsure if he wanted the answer.

"Loki happened," She stated coldly. Looking at the blood remnants of it on the previous cell control panel. "Reports state that your blue ninja and agent Barton, both had boarded a quinjet and disabled one of the four rotors."

"Which explained the explosion we all felt, and the sudden banking tilt because of the lack of propulsion." Zane deduced.

"That was Jay?" Cole gaped, his jaw slackened.

"Barton too."

"Who's Agent Barton?" Lloyd asked from his position at the helm of the team.

"Hawkeye, our best sniper and marksman. Loki's sceptre has affected his thinking, just as it did with your team member."

"Hmm," Cole grumbled, "are they still aboard?"

"Are you being serious?" She asked, her face deadpanned.

Cole recoiled slightly, "Uhm, y-yeah. Are either of them still on board?"

"Is there life after death?" She countered, in annoyance. "How am I supposed to know, they both came aboard the helicarrier on a stolen quinjet, disabled it, released a virus, stole the cube and left."

Though he liked this woman's moxie, she certainly had a way with words. She didn't mince them at all, just said what she wanted. And that, was more than likely, how she became Director Fury's right-hand woman. Agent Maria Hill pulled no punches.

She took a deep breath in. Mentally kicking herself for accepting to take on new recruits right in the midst of a global threat and a direct attack on SHIELD.

Undeterred by her sarcastic wit, Cole turned to face her. "And there was me thinking that was a resounding yes, my mistake." He shrugged.

"I, for one hope he isn't. We need to get Jay without Loki being near him."

Shaking his head, Brock turned to Lloyd. "And how ya gonna do that, you idiot?"

Cole grit his teeth. "Don't talk to him like that."

"I'm with Lloyd," Nya said, standing firm. "We need to wait for some sort of sign. We can't even think of approaching him until we're given a safer environment to talk."

Brock holstered his sidearm, sneering. "There is no safer environment. Loki is unstoppable on terra firma as he is up here."

"Which means what?"

Cole held Kai back from getting into Brock's grill. "We wait until we're told."

"Yeah, because you really don't wanna deal with me if you go rogue..."

Cole thought about that. Was that an invite to do something under the radar? It was certainly tempting, maybe he'd get a chance to use his earth punch on earth...Cool.

Brief flashback:

"What are you without this suit? Steve Rogers AKA Captain America sneered at the cocky man to his front. The one man with an arc reactor on his chest who didn't seem remotely phased by all the uncertainty and unease going on around them or the fact that Loki had instigated this whole thing. Still, he stood face to face and tested the man who was staring him down in the lab. "Put it on, show me."

The man in the black t-shirt was still playfully poking the scientist. This normally calm and collected individual was supposedly a renowned scientist in the fields of Biochemistry, Nuclear Physics, and Gamma Radiation. At least the calm part of him was. Tony hadn't personally witnessed his full transformation to the green beast. He was intrigued by him though, that's part of the reason he was still prodding him. Sure, he'd seen news reports of the Hulking green beast and then there were official government files that had been intercepted and encrypted, warranting him and his system JARVIS to hack the relevant files.

"Who are you, Tony? You're just a man in a metal suit."

Tony Stark, undeterred by this vision in red white and blue, stood his ground and placed the small cattle prod down. "I'm a genius, playboy, philanthropist, not necessarily in that order."

"Put on the suit!" Captain America urged, now standing nose to nose. Threatening, getting more and more irritated as the seconds passed.

Before either could land a blow, a huge ear deafening boom was heard and felt across the entire ship. Natasha and Bruce had flown through the laboratory window, Thor and the remaining two others stayed put and gradually regained their bearings after the loud din settled. Minutes later, the Helicarrier was heavily tilting and beginning to bank.

There were extensive casualties and the ship had been severely damaged in the unprovoked attack. Loki didn't care in the slightest, he'd been down on earth planning their next move. This move was solely to procure the blue cube that Loki had initially stolen from Fury, Hawkeye and Jay had arrived, stolen it and left. up.

Fury and his team had no idea that Loki had commandeered a quinjet and capable crew that had managed to scramble, hack and fool the security protocols on board. It was painfully evident that some of SHIELD's crew members had been infiltrated and thought nothing of turning their backs on Fury and his men.

Everyone onboard this ship had a job to do and if Jay was to show up, The ninja would very likely be the ones to provide the first attack. At least until the Avengers would show up again and save the day.

They'd been kept clear of the fight, it was obvious to them now...They were only here to take on Jay.

Cole watched out of the window, desperate to see Jay again. He watched with scared anticipation as the huge ship began the docking procedure. The ship was coming in to land and it was quite a mean feat to get something so heavy and large to dock safely. There was a huge building in front of the ship, it stood quite tall, surrounded by water that seemed to stretch on and on. He cocked his head, thinking it strange that something this big would stay afloat on a body of water.

"It's the Potomac River. Don't worry so much Cole, they know how to fly this thing."

The ground looked to be coming up to meet them as the rotors hovered, lowed then hovered again. He closed his eyes and turned to face Lloyd instead. His brother was deep in conversation with Brock, now that all tensions had been subdued and the casualties had been taken care of. Typically, they still had a huge debrief to attend, then an evening session of physical training with Agent Rollins.

"So, what does SHIELD mean to you, Brock?" Lloyd asked, slightly intimidated by the man who towered over him and rarely spoke unless his best friend was standing next to him.

Brock let out a dark laugh. "It means someone really wanted our initials to spell out 'SHIELD'. It means we're the line between the world and the much weirder world. We protect people from news they aren't ready to hear, and, when we can't do that, we keep em safe."

"FSM," Cole gawked, "This place is huge!" He was feeling safe enough to let go of the railings now that the airborne ship wasn't vibrating like his earth driller.

"You're telling me," Kai replied nervously, holding firm onto the railings until the whites of his knuckles could be seen, "Kinda puts the Bounty to shame a little bit, huh?"

"The Bounty eh, you didn't have a mutiny then?" Brock smirked at the fact that more than one of these fighters looked nervous at the landing process and the creaking groans the ship was making.

"What?" Kai asked, face screwed up in confusion.

"Sounds like an old movie I watched, growing up. Mutiny on the Bounty?"

"Did the Bounty that you're referring to, have boosters and rocket-propelled engines?" Kai asked, smirking. He elbowed Cole in the ribs to see if he was paying attention.

"No, this movie was supposed to be set way back in the day," Brock shook his head, evidently his humour was lost on these new fighters. They had very little humour, just like Thor and his brother.

A small disturbance outside the canteen made the assembled Ninja pay attention. Two of which were sitting, Cole, Kai and Lloyd were still standing. "SUIT UP GUYS, you're going on your first overnight mission." Agent Hill stated, barging through the mess hall doors before they'd even had a chance to disembark.

"You don't have a choice in the matter, we have a positive sighting on Jay. Fury's order's, you're all going in."


	7. All HELicarriers breaking loose

Suited and booted. Looking a little rough around the edges Cole, Lloyd and their remaining team of ninja had arrived back in the Triskelion in Washington D.C, under armed guard. This, was after a further failed attempt at trying to convince their brained brother to stop fighting the wrong fight on the wrong side with the most evil, manipulative ego-maniacal God there was.

There was some good news though, despite all the negativity.

To start with, there was a minimal loss of life with a few civilian casualties here and there, this was always to be expected in heavily populated areas and very often couldn't be avoided. Then there was the fact that Cole and his team had successfully completed their mission, in that, everyone in the team was still alive and accounted for. The only minor setback to be debriefed upon was that Jay was still out there, being coerced into evil doing, wreaking havoc with Hawkeye and whom Iron man dearly termed as 'reindeer games.'

This, as it would appear, was a flying visit to Washington. As intergalactic alien lifeforms, they hadn't really had enough time to look around like tourists would, not that Cole would have chosen to either. For starters; they were all wearing silly SHIELD endorsed jumpsuits and that alone would have raised some eyebrows in the vast metropolis that was the capital of this country. So, to avoid public ridicule and enquiry; the ninja as a team were escorted in reinforced security vehicles that SHIELD personnel wouldn't be seen dead travelling in.

A good ten minutes later and they had arrived at the water front of the wide Potomac River. Behind the assembled team of ninja stood a huge concrete bridge, ahead were five giant waterways, pools to the untrained eye. Cole wasn't really taking it in, because all the raven haired ninja could see from his vantage point inside the armoured vehicle was a ridiculous amount of workers meandering about with high vis jackets and hard hats. He had wondered if it was a construction site or something, that would at least explain the high visibility PPE gear they were wearing.

Cole barely had a chance to take it all in as the group of five were ushered from the vehicle and into a military styled narrow corridor that looked to be made of corrugated and reinforced steel. "Where are we going now?" He whined, cracking his neck to alleviate the stiffness that had started to set in. "Y'know, we didn't really sleep all that well on the flight back here."

_Where ever here is?_

Kai nodded in response, voice a little subdued with the extremes of tiredness. "Yeah, it wasn't the smoothest ride." He groaned, looking a tad green as he fought to keep up. "I'm not usually one for motion sickness, but maybe you should've let Zane fly the jet."

"I believe it is called a quinjet, Kai. And, you are correct, I would have been able to calculate the most suitable flight patterns taking into account the thermals and atmospheric pressure, but, my services were not requested."

"I'm just saying, Zane. I swear they were doing barrel rolls." Kai grumbled, holding his head in one hand, his gut in the other. "Urgh, at least Jay could have told me what aerobatics they were doing, considering he had the storm jet and pulled off a fair few himself."

Brock Rumlow held in the chuckle. "I can assure you, the guys that flew us back here have had plenty of training. What you guys felt was just a bit of turbulence." he was rolling his eyes as he scanned his ident card on the panel which opened the main security doors up front. "You guys aren't pussies are ya? Haa, a little motion sickness never killed anyone."

"No, but an annoyed fire ninja will..." Kai grumbled under his breath. He paused in his barely heard statement, feeling Lloyd's hand holding him back somewhat.

"Not here, Kai. Just, try and stay calm." Lloyd whispered, squeezing Kai's forearm in sympathy. "We need to know what they're planning first."

"Calm, for what? we still don't know what these guys are planning." Nodding begrudgingly, Kai backed off a little and allowed Cole to take the forward flank nearest Rollins and Rumlow, two of SHIELD's best Strike members. Both of which had taken it upon themselves to accompany, train and interrogate the ninja team as a whole.

The corridor eventually opened allowing access to the flight deck on what was now a Helicarrier, not unlike the first one they had ventured onto a few days prior. "You wanted to know where you are, Cole? This is another one of those flying ships that you loved so much the first time round." He smirked, pressing a button on the elevator. "And right now, you'll be given the chance to say your piece, ya know why you're here and what you're all gonna do..."

"You mean, say your peace?" Lloyd quizzed.

"No, not your last words smart ass? This is a meeting with the guys you'll be working with, least until goldie is taken care of."

"Goldie?" Cole frowned.

He could have face-palmed, but he didn't. Brock remembered that these guys and solitary female had only just arrived here to be thrown into this fight without even knowing the full details and given only the basics. "Loki, he wears a shed load of gold, horned helmet, ya know?"

Cold groaned, he had only seen photos of Loki. Thankfully, he hadn't had the misfortune of seeing him in person, yet. he couldn't be sure what he'd say to him if he did either, but it wouldn't be pretty.

"And then what, once Loki is taken care of, what'll happen next?" Nya finally spoke up, after what seemed like an eternity.

Rumlow shrugged his shoulders, back still turned as he scanned his card. "Director Fury or Coulson, they'd be the best to speak to about that. I don't have security clearance to tell you."

All of the gathered party were making their way to the bridge to be formally introduced to the so called heroes that had lost them their brother.

Sure, it wasn't the first of these ships that the team had been on. The last one they had ventured onto was limping back to port; having sustained heavy damage in trying to reduce the threat of some defect squadron that had tried to infiltrate the entire ship.

Lloyd had been the first to notice some of the differences, aside from the fact this helicarrier was new; the staff appeared friendlier, although still stressed and the glass was finger print and smear free.

"Excuse me uh, Brock-" Lloyd tapped delicately on the well muscled STRIKE team members arm, "-what can you tell us about this ship then?" He questioned, as he looked out of the expansive window and onto the most recent damage inflicted onto its hull and fourth rotor engine. He didn't mean to come across as brash but it was mostly nerves that were guiding him.

"As opposed to the rest? Not much..." Brock laughed, re-sheathing his side arm with a grunt. He reluctantly took out a small book from his back pocket and proceeded to thumb through it until he found the relevant section.

"This, like the rest, except for the one we were on a few days ago is seaworthy. It's capable of VTOL flight by way of four huge lift fans that are mounted on the sides." He said it like he was reading off some script. He was, he'd been given this little book when he first accepted the mission of being with STRIKE and this dog eared booklet came everywhere with him, though he had never given it much thought before now.

Brock walked to the window and pointed out the motor's in question, then pointed to the landing strips. "It's got two runways; direct access to a hangar at the rear which is aligned along the spine of the vessel, and the other diagonally aligned runway is just above."

"That is remarkable engineering. I was wondering how a craft like this lifts up and gains enough momentum to break into the stratosphere." Zane was frowning as he spoke, because no matter what he tried to do to access the information panels, he was getting the same error messages displayed of either classified or access denied. "A vertical take off and landing answers my questions though."

"Kinda surprised you didn't query that on the other ship." Brock quizzed.

"You had him powered down for a few days..." Lloyd cut in. "Remember?"

"Haa, that wasn't me, you can blame SHIELD." Brock replied, smirking. "Safety protocols and all that. The last time we had an all silver robot turn up in New Mexico, it totalled a town and made national news, so we couldn't take any risks with this one."

"He has a name." Kai hissed. "Zane!"

"Kai, he is only making conversation." Zane stepped forward slightly, looking better at the muscular agent of STRIKE. "I see you have improved your security protocols then, it was thanks to Mr Stark that I was able to reboot my systems."

Brock nodded, taking a slow breath in. "Indeed, well they called in the specialists because Coulson believed you were one of his."

"So, how come people can't see this huge hulking thing in the sky?" Cole asked, looking down the impossibly long hallway, "I mean, it is pretty big!"

"It is big, we use refractive panels on the underbelly which offer the helicarrier a broad camouflage of clouds or sky when viewed from below," Brock answered and placed the booklet away.

"Does it have weapons?" Cole and Kai asked in unison.

"Haa, you guys are worse than school kids, cept for the broad over there..." He mouthed and pointed at the ever quiet Nya. "We'd be a massive target in the sky if we didn't have weapons." He smiled and reloaded his ammo belt. "This beast has Intercontinental ballistic missiles," Brock said proudly, "-Plus, the Ventral gun batteries offer a wide area of fire below, whilst the front and side-mounted cannons provide some coverage to the surrounding area."

"Wow, superior firepower in the skies then?" Lloyd commented.

"What do you expect? International conglomerate known as SHIELD, funded by STARK enterprises is gonna have some money rolling in." Brock stated, "SHIELD and HYDRA have been around longer than you realise."

"I still can't get over the fact that we're so high and we haven't even touched on the Cloud Kingdom yet!" Kai mumbled quietly into Cole's ear.

"Are you still going on about that?" Cole whispered back. "Different realm remember, they'll think you've gone mad if you say that sorta stuff..." he hushed himself as he heard foot steps coming from up ahead.

"These the ones who'll be taking him down?" A female voice said none too quietly. "I take it that they've been briefed, adequately?"

Fury observed Agent Maria Hill, before looking across at Rumlow, the latter nodding along with him. "Yes sir."

"Good, the familiarity might be just what we need to snap him out of what ever hold Loki has on him." Maria Hill surmised, looking over the sorry alien recruits.

"Hang on!" Cole sauntered up to the woman he had met two days prior, noting her height difference wasn't that far from his own. "We never said we'd be taking him down, you make it sound like you want us to kill him?"

"You might not have a choice," Director Fury stated, expression unreadable. He had reached into his inner pockets and retrieved something that looked remarkably like small trading cards to Cole, Kai and Lloyd. It was only Zane that noticed the unmistakable traces of blood that coated each one.

"Is Agent Coulson around, we still need to speak to him?" Cole asked, a hint of uncertainty in his tone. "About what happens after all this is over."

"Coulson's down." Agent Hill stated, a sombre tone about it. "Sir, those cards were in Coulson's locker, not his pocket."

Nick Fury was stood looking out of the window. A heavy frown on his face, "They needed it, it was a push in the right direction."

He watched as the quinjet took off, "they got it. Just hope it can give them the boost that they need."

It irked Cole that he hadn't received any response to his question. What was going to happen after all of this, would they get a chance to go home? Would Jay be the same, would he be okay? What if he had to stay and serve time? What if SHIELD made them all science experiments because of their alien status?

The master of earth shivered slightly, hugely grateful for some recognition when the director began to turn and observe them all as a team.

Fury had turned back to the assembled ninja before him. Again, his face wore no expression, his stare was as cold as steel. "You'll be going on the next quinjet. Rendezvous is at Stark Tower."

"And what's happening at Stark Tower?" Lloyd was the first to ask, being that his brethren was almost past the point of no return in relation to how exhausted they were.

"Two hostiles at Stark tower, And, you might know one of them." He smirked. "Suit up, Brock and Rollins will accompany you."


	8. SHIELD has secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now you're one of them, Cole

Passing in the corridor on the way to the quinjet hangar, for what would be his final mission with SHIELD. The late Agent Phil Coulson backtracked some. His hands instantly spreading out to either side, halting his companions onward journey. Turning on his heels. Phil had instantly recognised the shaggy black hair of the enhanced alien before him. Though there was something remarkably distinctive about Cole, something that stood him apart from other humans.

A small anomaly that Phil Coulson had witnessed during the time when Cole had been dosed up with sodium pentothal. His hands, both of them had been glowing, sure Danny Rand the previous iron fist had been known to tap into such an element. Though the latter had to be focused on his chi and wholly awake to do that. Cole, however, was near enough flat out and slurring his words whilst both his hands were aglow.

In the corridor where all four men stood, three of them heavily armed. Sure, Cole thought that he could have been mistaken for any STRIKE squad member, considering how ripped his body was. Those Special tactical reserve guys were buff too, rippling muscles and loud-mouthed to boot. Four small squadrons of STRIKE, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta and every single one of them was led by Brock Rumlow. The ex-Marine guy, though quiet, brooding and strong-minded was someone you definitely didn't want to mess with.

Taking his sunglasses off, respectfully. Coulson smirked up at Cole. Regarding the other with a hint of distrust that he seemed to show everyone except for Director Fury. "Cole," he said. Expression neutral. "How's SHIELD treating you?" His mouth curled up at one side, teasing.

Like you don't already know...asshole. "Okay," Cole stated, shrugging with an air of nonchalance. "It could be better."

It was the partial truth. Cole hated this hellhole. The only thing he liked about SHIELD was the food, and maybe the electronics systems. The house and trance music for sure especially when paired up with those Bose headphones. The rest of it was crap, except for the equipment and gadgets, but everything else, yeah that was crap.

Coulson nodded, shrugging his shoulders imperceptibly. "We're going to need to talk when I get back." His tone was flat, not giving anything away.

"Is that so?" Cole said. "I thought I'd told you all you needed to know?"

"Not all." Coulson said, giving a dark laugh. "I know you're holding something back. Pertaining to combined elemental abilities?"

Hesitating, Cole's gaze snapped to Coulson's 'cold as ice' glare. Now he was wondering what the hell this short skinny man was getting at, and if possible, who had spilt the beans? He couldn't remember mentioning anything of great importance. Kai, as far as he was aware, hadn't either. Hothead barely had said a word during his interrogations. He was cross-examined in a room that was more carbon dioxide than oxygen. No matter how cruel, it subdued his fiery element that was for sure.

"We've got nothing to hide from you, or SHIELD." Cole muttered under his breath. For once he was glad that Coulson hadn't grasped his forearm to hinder his further advancement towards his fast disappearing team.

"I beg to differ."

Cole decided biting his tongue would be better right at this moment and he did so as Kai and his brothers were led further down the passageway. Near enough out of view and most certainly out of earshot.

Sure, this wouldn't be the best place to knock Coulson down a peg or two because the suited man was armed. He carried with his person, an impressive arsenal of handguns, not to mention he was being accompanied by two others. Both armed to the teeth and wearing full combat gear; as if they were off to a war-torn ravaged part of god knows where. Coulson himself was wearing his usual single-breasted suit and starched white shirt. Carrying with ease, a small stack of envelopes in a brown manilla file under one arm. Red stamps over the lot of them, symbolizing some stupid SHIELD importance had been placed on each and every one.

"Of course, it was more curiosity than anything," Coulson shrugged. Searching for hints of recollection to surface on Cole's face.

It would seem that the essence of being Vague was Coulson's game, and it annoyed the hell out of Cole. For starters, Jay being talkative was one thing he could block out easily. Kai's snarky attitude was another thing he could bite back with, but vagueness, no. Coulson was annoying the crap out of him and he'd hardly said anything at all.

"Curiosity about what?" Cole said, biting his cheek at having now lost track of his team. They were all being led to the commissary while he was being cross-examined by the annoying two faced Agent.

"I'm guessing you and your remaining team have all been altered in some way too?" Coulson said, flicking through one file in particular. "Though not quite as badly as bluebird?"

Flinching at the pet name afforded to his best friend. Why had they made Jay sound so weak? Maybe Coulson would love a stint with the mind stone sceptre too?

"Huh, excuse me?" Cole stilled, words drying up in his mouth at what had just been uttered.

"You travelled using an infinity stone, it affected all of you in noticeable ways, yes?"

Is that a question? Are you expecting me to know or are you insinuating? "I'm sorry, I uh don't follow. What exactly are you getting at?" Cole recoiled slightly, putting two and two together. "Hang on, have you been spying on us?"

Sure, it all made sense now, what with the oddly placed mirrors in their rooms, the minuscule red lights here and there. What was a massive invasion of privacy, was a bitter pill to swallow, because they couldn't do a damned thing about it. It was either this or, be the unwilling subject of some top secret government alien testing program.

"You're all enhanced. It's why you've all been assigned handlers. Also, a little inside info, we don't call it spying, this is purely research purposes"

Coulson's snide chuckle echoed in Cole's head. God how he wanted to smack the shit eating grin off Coulson's smug face. Instead, he clenched his jaw at the tone afforded, choosing to ignore the invasion of privacy, for now.

"I hate that term, enhanced. We're not enhanced. We're elemental masters of spinjitzu, just like Jay said we were."

Coulson chuckled again and it began to grate.

"Oh, quite the contrary. You and your team are nothing like the enhanced people of earth. Sure, we've got people who are immensely strong or who can control the elements; every single one of them, but you, haa oh no. You all seem to be connected in a way that no one else is."

Shaking his head in confusion more than anything, Cole recoiled slightly. "We're a team, that's all there is to it."

"Indeed you are Cole, indeed you are." Laughing to himself, he placed another file under Cole's chin, stamped with a big red SHIELD 8 threat. "And now, you're one of SHIELD's team."

"What, I-I don't understand?" He pinched the bridge of his nose. Eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. This was going from a bad joke to a nightmare in the blink of an eye. Damn, at this rate, Cole wouldn't be getting back to Ninjago anytime soon, possibly ever. He just hoped that the realm was safe without them there to protect it because there was no way his brothers and Nya would leave Cole here, as well as Jay.

"Ha, it seems that your blue brother was quite a talker when we interrogated him, wouldn't you agree, Agent Jameson?"

He nodded. "So happy to help that he divulged something so destructive that you all seem perfectly capable of creating as a team."

Cole stared wide-eyed. What the hell had they done to Jay him to make him spill that nugget of information? If he wasn't worried before, he was now. His words wouldn't come, his tongue had rolled up tighter than a titanium sleeping bag.

"You have any idea what that power could do in the wrong hands?" Coulson stated. "Too dangerous to simply turn our backs on?"

Looking back on those few days with a sense of apprehension, he was glad that Brock had rounded the corner when he had.

It was sad really. Cole never got a chance to tear a strip off of Phil Coulson, because Loki had ruthlessly killed him. Running him through with the very same sceptre he'd used on Jay.

And worse still, Cole still hadn't gotten the answers he needed. Specifically, the ones that told him what would be happening after this thing was over. He even wondered if Coulson had delivered the classified files to Director Fury. The ones that listed their additional team powers; the tornado of creation amongst others.

He yawned, waking up after a brief nap on this short journey. Sitting back on the rack seating of the quinjet, Cole figured that the white noise sound of the jet propulsion engines in this metal bird made it easy to fall asleep to. Yet, it was near on impossible to hold a regular conversation. This plane was large, utilitarian and even the pilots wore noise-cancelling headphones. The passengers, however, they weren't so lucky. He could barely hear himself think over the din of jet engines and vibrating metal. He was sure he could feel his teeth chattering too but he put that to the back of his mind, along with everything else that had happened.

Blurry eyed, Cole looked around himself, not expecting anything impressive, he wasn't disappointed. This thing obviously wasn't a commercial airliner. The metal racked seats were a testament to that fact and they kinda made him feel like he was about to be baked and broiled. Apparently, these metal birds were commisioned by Tony Stark as pieces of precision military equipment. Meant for high-level stealth and speed where comfort wasn't a necessity; storage and firepower were.

Sighing in relief, Cole released a pent-up breath, that he wasn't aware he'd been holding onto. It felt like he was on tenterhooks this entire trip, so much so that his focus and resolve were crumbling under the strain of keeping everything together for his brothers and Nya. The stress and exhaustion of everything to date had caused him to doze off, none more than this day. This was going to be the day that they might get a chance to reason with Jay, to bring him back.

It was a welcome change of events though, to catch a few zz's, not that his brothers or Nya would have agreed. They all looked worn out and anxious as hell to be going up against one of their own. "Uhm, what's happening?" Cole grumbled, rubbing his eyes as he sat more upright, tugging on his five-point harness to check it was still tight and fastened for added security.

"Coming into land, and, it might be rough," Brock shouted from across the floor space. "So, hold onto your dinners ladies."

Dinner...Cole's stomach grumbled, they hadn't had all that much to eat really. He was hoping that if this mission was successful, they would all be eating together at the end of the day. Maybe one day soon, they'd all be able to chalk this adventure down to sheer bad luck and be sent back home. Well, that was what he was hoping for.

Mixed emotions were running through his head at this point. They, as a team, were supposedly about to go up against Jay and potentially his new slave master. This was the man they hadn't been given any intel on. Other than the fact that Loki wore an obscene amount of gold on his person. Cole had wondered what these people meant by a large amount, considering he and his brethren had travelled from a realm where a psychopathic egomaniacal entity had covered himself in the stuff and lorded it around the city.

Frigging weirdo's and their obsessions with gold.

Stifling a yawn, Cole looked at Brock and Rollins, both of which were semi-deep conversing about shitty music tracks of which Cole had zero interest in. "Where are we meeting then, what's the plan, where we going?"

"Stark Tower, that's all we got so far." Brock grumbled with his hand on his ear. Checking in for further instructions. "It's under attack as we speak, two hostiles and a whole handful of mercenaries disguised as SHIELD agents to take down."

Finally, and after less than an hour of flying at a medium altitude. The quinjet slowly decelerated and began banking. Veering to the left in a sharp turn.

Altitude dropping by the second. Cole offered a reassuring look to his spiky-haired brother, noting that Kai was attempting to hide his malaise. This sickness wasn't helped in the slightest by their joint lack of sleep and the unusual food here. Though back on the subject of food again. It had really taken some getting used to. Cole had adjusted faster than most of his team, save for Lloyd who had a thing for the candy here.

A fleeting look of sympathy crossed Cole's face when he saw Kai's expression drop. Knowing full well that Kai's stomach must have reeled in response to all the jiggling around because all the remaining colour had fallen from his face and he was groaning under his breath in abject misery.

"Won't be too long Kai, hold on." Cole soothed. Mentally crossing his fingers that Kai wouldn't be redecorating the interior of this jet with hours old margarita pizza and a five dollar banana cherry milkshake.

Kai was grasping tightly onto the metal seating as the uncomfortable seats dug relentlessly into his backside."Th-this the quickest w-way of getting from a to b then?" He grimaced, holding on tight as the jet dropped every few seconds. He was doing his best to hold onto the contents of his stomach. Looking apologetically at Cole, whose sympathetic expression held firm.

"Sorry Kai, we haven't eaten much. Your blood sugar's probably low?"

"No," he muttered under his breath, laughing softly. "I figured it out just now; I really don't like flying."

"Fair enough. I can't blame you for that." Cole replied. "We've all felt like crap since arriving here, in the style we did." Giving an unsure expression, a half smile because he wasn't sure what else to do or say.

"But what's with the turbulence?" Kai grumbled, holding onto his head, feeling miserable.

Cole could only offer a sympathetic smile and a firm squeeze of Kai's upper arm, he didn't have the answers that Kai needed. He had been about to utter some words of consolation to soothe but as luck would have it, the tannoy system alerted them that they were about to land.

"Turbulence for the moment. It can't be helped," A voice came across the onboard system. Amplified by the attached mouthpiece that both pilot and co-pilot were using. "Guys, there's a lot of hostiles and we're trying to avoid ground crossfire, so hold onto your pants." The co-pilot assured, swinging the jet into a better position to take aim with the forward turret.

The pilots, amidst the reigning gunfire chaos below, had expertly landed it on a now deserted street after firing off their rounds from the Gatling gun onboard. They placed it down not far from the first meeting rendezvous point. A few buttons were quickly pressed, and the rear metal ramp opened. Clanging noisily onto the decimated asphalt underneath. The action of which caused a billowing dust cloud to enter as all aboard took a glimpse outside at the sheer devastation that was now New York.

It was hard to believe that this was the same city Cole, his brothers and Nya had arrived in, only a few days prior. Everything looked so different before, it actually looked pleasant, busy as any city would have been. Even at nightfall, this place had been bustling, but now it was a literal war-zone. The place was near enough deserted. The only remaining people were the STRIKE teams who were chasing down enemy Chitauri or rogue SHIELD agents who'd defected. Typically, SWAT teams hadn't been deployed because this whole shitpile was likely beyond the Special Weapons and Tactics' skillset.

Despite the visible signs of a massive gunfight and noticeable civilian casualties, the ninja tried not to let it get to them, but it was hard. Threat levels and loss of life was never an easy thing to accept. Even if it wasn't their fight or their homeworld, they still felt a level of empathy for the sheer loss of life they could see surrounding them, it was broad daylight for starters and it was complete and utter destruction.

"Suit up buttercup." He said, giving Cole and his team comms devices. "You'll need these to stand by for instruction and pick ups?" He nodded the once to check Cole's comprehension.

Brock unfastened and grabbed the large metal box which, up until that point had been fastened to the floor of the quinjet. The thing was heavy but manageable and it contained something under lock and key that was important for the mission. Rollins, as usual, provided adequate cover from plane to SUV as the quin took off once the party were clear of the jet propelled engines.

The once black SUV was only a few feet away. The car itself was covered with a blanket of concrete dust, like everything else around them. Quickly placing the armoured chest in the trunk, Brock fastened it to the chassis before locking the door and motioning everyone to climb in and buckle up.

One by one, Brock Rumlow and Jack Rollins quickly ushered the ninja team into a battered looking SUV while tasered gunshots could be heard ringing out nearby. The car that they all climbed into looked like it had already sustained heavy damage while waiting for its occupants to arrive at the rendezvous point.

"Coordinates sir, we're at the rendezvous point?" Brock radioed in, pressing his earpiece to hear better. He didn't have to wait long, coordinates were patched through almost immediately.

Rollins had climbed in, locking the doors after his passengers were all accounted for. Once alighted, he scanned his Ident card on the dashboard panel.

Cole noted that the car didn't initially start until the short-haired man had scanned his card. The card and type of ID used had fingerprint tech, that wasn't a new thing to Cole, he'd seen Borg use something like that too.

Rollins nodded, again scanning his Ident card on the dash to allow for personal driving privileges. The onboard computer quickly came to life and displayed the meeting point as patched through from SHIELD HQ on the nearest remaining helicarrier.

Also, quite handy too, the onboard computer had brought up building schematics for their supposed mission. But annoyingly, the building was taller than the Triskelion. Cole rolled his eyes, hoping that Jay wasn't going to be on the top floor because that would drain energy reserves and his team already looked like they could sleep for a year. Looking at the schematics with a feeling of dread when he realised that was where most of the action was. Why did it have to be the only place that was under attack right at this minute?

Not out of breath, but worried none the less, Lloyd leaned forward as his team buckled in. "Will you be joining us?" He asked, looking at Brock's unkempt brown dust covered hair. "Considering we don't know this place all that well?"

"Brock," Jack Rollins muttered from the driver's seat. "Gohan here wants to know the score."

Rollins was straight-faced as he playfully insulted the young looking blonde haired alien behind him. So much so, that Brock chuckled to himself. Sure it was a pet name, a nickname for the blonde haired fighter who exhibited no likeness at all to the DragonBall Z character, other than hair colour, but it was hela funny.

Brock Rumlow, the rugged ex-Marine cast a downward glance via the rearview mirror, seeing Lloyd's confusion. "Sure kiddo, spill it, what do ya wanna know?"

Frustrated and oddly perplexed with the nickname afforded, Lloyd sat back again. "Will someone be accompanying us on this mission, ya know, like before?"

"Haa, no." Brock Rumlow shook his head, turning slightly to face him. "You guys are on your own until you take bluebird down."

"Then you contact us for backup," Rollins stated, pointed to his earpiece.

"And what about meeting the rest of the team? We were supposed to be doing that." Cole stated from the back. "Would be nice to know who we are supposedly working with."

"Or more precisely which one of them made it so easy to lose Jay in the first place," Kai added. having regained some of his colour.

"Ooh, tetchy..." Rollins quipped from the driver seat as he floored it, narrowly avoiding gunfire from the nearby ground force of alien hostiles. "The one who's responsible eh?" He snarked from the front seat. "Maybe don't mention Hawkeye to Natasha Romanov, she's still sore over that little catastrophe."

"Hawkeye?" Cole mumbled, eyebrow quirking at the nickname. "Who's he?"

"Agent Barton, the hawk? The modern day Robin Hood?" Rollins offered, suppressing a grin. He quickly shrugged because it was apparent that none of the ninja were following. "Look, you obviously don't get my meaning here, so I'm just gonna drop it. You can all do the blame game later?"

"I concur," Zane stated from the back. "We were given a straightforward introduction. I apologise, the names you use are...different to what we have heard."

"Actually, Zane," Kai interrupted. "We weren't introduced to any Hawkeye. Though that would be a name to remember, wouldn't it? A bit like Iron man?"

"Ladies!" Brock interrupted. "Proper introductions are gonna have to wait. You got yourselves a mission to focus on." He smirked raising his eyebrow from the front of the armoured black SUV. Evidently, Brock knew these roads well, what with the way he was directing his colleague through the dead city streets. Rollins was easily tanking it around the city streets of New York.

"Besides, it's not like you didn't get to meet the majority on the deck a few days back," Brock commented, taking a mouthful of aqua vita. "I swear you ladies have got minds like goldfish."

Rollins was busy concentrating on the roads and the blockades that had been placed, on purpose or not. "You really don't remember shaking hands with Cap Am or the great and mighty Thor?" He guffawed at his own statement. "It happened after your meeting with Director Fury, guys. You were all taken up to the bridge?"

Cole shrugged, that much was true. They had all met the so-called Avengers, but it was a fleeting visit and not much had been said other than the obligatory 'hello and how do you do?' There had been an awkwardness that some of the Avengers had absentmindedly shrugged off and that came across as cold and uncaring.

Digging into the vast amount of his outer pockets, Cole was happy to find he still had a plentiful selection of chocolatey goodness considering how much he had munched on during this shortish flight. It was a last minute thought too, filling up at the vending machine on the way out to the flight deck and surprisingly they hadn't melted yet.

All the machine said was ID REQUIRED, so Cole had scanned his card, not expecting much to happen. Eyes widening in glee when he realised the purchased selections had been accepted and he had plenty of credit left.

Apparently, their security cards were loaded with roughly $10 each per day, which meant Cole could get his partial fill of American candy and confectionery before this new mission even started. "Here," he said, passing a couple of Snickers bars to Kai and Nya, pausing before he let the confectionery out of his hands.

"I should already know this, but you're not allergic to nuts are you?" Cole asked. A look of uncertainty came over him as he retained hold of the chocolate bars. "Ha, I uh don't want to be responsible for causing injury...considering, we're already one member short."

Kai locked eyes with his black haired brother. Sure, he could forgive him for that little memory blip. To him, Cole looked worn out, heck, they all did, God knows what Jay looked like, they hadn't really been able to get close enough to him, as yet.

"No, neither of us have those types of allergy," Kai replied, shaking his head. "Nya's only really allergic to strong fragrance and aftershave. It brings her out in hives. Me, I guess my body is too much of a temple to have any allergies." He smirked, taking both bars. Handing the first to his sister before hastily unwrapping his own.

"Lloyd, you want one too?" Cole said, digging out a black and red one, reading the label carefully. "Mars, good for energy apparently. Here, see what ya think." He passed the bar to the middle row of seats, careful to avoid tossing the projectile, lest it hit one of the armed men on the head as they navigated these decimated city streets.

"It's amazing," Cole remarked. "I feel a lot lighter after all that cargo was dished out." Still, he took out two further bars subconsciously, then frowned. Cole always bought enough for every team member bar Zane, because the nindroid tended to eat more wholesome food rather than fill and clog his system up with preservatives and sugary snacks.

Cole put the extra bar away, the one he would have given Jay, had he been there to take it. Slowly he unwrapped his bar and then took a pensive look around himself. "I remembered a few days ago that SHIELD took the weapons from us. What are we gonna fight with?"

Rollins, having pulled the car to a standstill at the closest rendezvous point that guaranteed their lives remaining intact. He stilled, checking the area was clear before signalling his comrade. "The sorta melee weaponry you guys use; need to be kept under lock and key."

"As all weapons do," Rumlow added as he got out of the stationary SUV. "We don't get given them until we're given our final brief."

Kai followed his teammates, then stood there looking at the two armed men. Distrust in his mind's eye. "But you both have sidearms strapped to your legs, what gives?"

"Personal protection," Brock stated from up front. "We're STRIKE; it's standard issue. Especially required when accompanying potential hostiles."

Rollins opened the case and allowed each member of the team to grab at a selection of weaponry that suited their fighting styles.

Cole was miffed, he didn't see a scythe anywhere. Though he didn't much like the idea of using something like that against Jay. Elements would be better surely? Subconsciously, he grabbed some short kunai, sadly eyeing the pair of nunchucks that sat in the casing looking lonesome. He looked to his side, noticing Kai grabbing a few short tanto blades, inspecting the shaft and sharpness, the handling ability. Lloyd to his other side had begrudgingly taken a pair of sai and Zane took the only pair of shurikens.

Nya hadn't taken any deadly ones until Brock placed a sheathed carbon fibre katana in her trembling hands, slotting the spare into her dual holder on her back. She hadn't even entertained the idea of striking her boyfriend down. That was the plan C in case plan A and B failed, if their lives depended on it.


	9. Stark Tower

"200 Park Avenue? Please tell me this is a joke?" Kai whined, craning his neck to look up at the huge skyscraper to their immediate front. The thing had to be at least 440 feet tall. The square footage looked roughly the size of half a football pitch. "Great, it couldn't have been the library then?" It was an audible groan, he wasn't looking forward to this at all and the sheer height of the building made it exponentially worse.

Cole cringed along with Kai, having seen it for himself. The building they had made their way to was huge and by the looks of it, it was near enough as tall as the Empire State. This rather strange shaped building was barely three blocks from the biggest building in NYC, on a road called Park Avenue.

The team couldn't really confuse it for any other high-rise around here. This one was most definitely the one they wanted. It had the Stark name emblazoned nearer the top and elongated penthouse section. He groaned as he took in the size of the building before him, now feeling that same level of dread as Kai.

"I do not follow?" Zane quipped, turning to observe his brothers, one of which was evidently complaining. "The library is under attack too, but I assure you, Jay will not be there."

"Not to mention," Cole said, fiddling with his earpiece as the thing kept working loose. "It's over eight blocks away. Besides, we've been told to stay here. This is where we're needed. The other guys have got it covered, downtown."

I hope...

"I was being facetious..." Kai answered dryly. "And I don't really give two shits if they haven't got it covered downtown," He added. "We've only come here, for one thing, let's get that straight."

"Kai?" Nya raised an eyebrow at her brothers language and tone.

I hear ya Kai... "I get it. You don't need to snap at me. And we'll get him back, Kai." Cole hissed in retaliation. He was peering through the enormous glass-fronted building.

Seeing nothing but a deserted reception area. He shrugged his tense shoulders. Cole could easily work with deserted, less casualties to contend with for starters. "What you got Zane, other than the obvious of just walking in and announcing ourselves?" He was trying to open the doors with as little force as possible. Sure, he could have smashed his way through. He had thought of that, but that was technically plan B. Plan A, was ask nicely and be let in. After all, Cole and his team were here to help, not completely destroy STARK Enterprises.

Cole looked up the sloping building. Impressed with the overall stylistic qualities of it. It had a sheer face on one side and a slanted front with raised window cleaning platforms that were way too high to consider using. Not to mention, there'd be no power to them from way down here. The security conduits were likely under some form of heavily secured manholes. It would make an excellent building to climb, that was for sure.

"The entire building is powered by an arc reactor, based out in Hudson Bay."

"Sorry, what?" Cole exclaimed, staring confused at what Zane had said. "Meaning that it can't be easily shut down or something to that extent?"

Biting his lip, Cole could see trouble brewing down the same abandoned road they were on. Gun-shots were ringing out nearby, followed by the unnatural sounds of a creature's guttural roars. The increase in noise was enough to make the dread resurface in his gut. Because all his earpiece was picking up was static.

Turning his head imperceptibly at the panicked tone coming from Cole. Zane nodded. "He disconnected this tower from the general electricity network. Therefore making it the first self-sustained building in New York City. Furthermore, the electronics systems within are maintained by J.A.R.V.I.S."

"Okaaay, can Jarvis be contacted?" Cole said. Staring at the building, wondering if he could scale it and provide a guide rope for his team to climb up, thus getting them to a better level of safety that didn't involve being sitting ducks on a street corner.

Looking back up as Zane continued to patch in. Sure the building was slanted enough to climb, but the windows seemed to be sleek and uniform with no visible sills or frames to speak of. The only way he'd be able to get up there would be with suction cups. And they were flat out of those.

"Hang on, who's Jarvis?" Lloyd piped up, pulling Nya closer to the converging group.

"J.A.R.V.I.S is an artificially intelligent system. His presence made itself known to me a few days ago." Zane smiled remembering it as a pleasant experience that reminded him of P.I.X.A.L. Really, the only other person to speak to him in that way had been Cyrus Borg, then had been his brothers as they had attempted to remove a virus from within and finally P.I.X.A.L.

"The J.A.R.V.I.S system itself is tasked with running business for Stark Industries as well as security for Stark Tower. We may be able to access the security system if I communicate with the interface first?"

"Do it then." Kai insisted. "I don't want to be responsible for breaking and entering, in this realm."

"Least of our worries Kai. Look, just try it Zane." Cole stood back patiently, watching the master at work. All the while he was keeping an eye on the remaining members of the team at his side. Lloyd had his arms around Nya again, consoling her in his awkward embrace as Nya stood there, head hanging low. To Cole, it looked like she was remorseful of something or other. He was none the wiser though. Nya had only spoken to Kai or Wu in depth when Jay had left. He guessed that she'd come out of her shell soon enough if he gave her time.

Wirelessly patching through the mainframe servers, Zane was requesting access to the front and internal doors. His metal face contorted painfully then quickly displayed a frown.

"Zane? You okay?" Lloyd shook him slightly.

"I-I a-apologise, it WAS c-controlled and maintained by the user interface computer s-system."

"You're glitching what happened?" Lloyd looked worried.

It seemed like an eternity before Zane could speak clearly again. He wasn't sparking or shorting out, Zane was standing stock still, rigid.

"The system was forcefully shut down." He said, monotonously. "It was hacked by someone who is adept at computers, IT systems and technology. A fast learner, so it seems because it almost shut me down too."

"Hang on, back to what you said before." Cole quirked an eyebrow, eyes suddenly narrowing. "What do you mean when you say...it was maintained? Has something changed?"

"Obviously something's changed. Jarvis is probably filling Zane up with a computer virus. Can he be disconnected?"

"I am right here, not lost in the system as you believe me to be. I may be attached temporarily to the mainframe access drives but I can go no further than this. It is futile now, J.A.R.V.I.S is offline."

"So something must have happened then?" Kai argued, pulling on the side doors with a frustrated grunt as neither door budged an inch.

"I would say..." Nya said, voice shaking ever so slightly. Her finger and eyes pointing upwards. "Something has definitely changed."

Lloyd had faltered too. His arms unwound from her almost immediately as he followed Nya's upwards stare. He could see a fight going on, heck everyone could...considering how many things were whizzing by four hundred feet up.

To any surviving passers-by, all that could be seen was the scarce bit of wreckage that occasionally rained down from above. And because the noise was so high up it was barely heard. Regardless of the fact that the tower above had become the focal point of a battle, where Loki seemed to be trying to maintain a dimensional rift. And the subsequent heavy fighting that was taking place, in order to close the portal, was causing extensive damage to the upper floors.

"I guess you both got your answer. It means that Jarvis is probably too busy trying to disable that," He pointed at the black dot in the sky. "Too busy sorting that than care about security protocols in relation to the front doors."

"Then why the hell can't we get in then?" Kai huffed, pushing it as hard as he could muster without resorting to simply burning the door down.

Still frowning, Zane stood back against the flower planters near the frontage of the large building. "I was communicating with the interface but it would appear that something, or rather someone had disabled him; on purpose."

"What like hacked?" Lloyd quizzed, some intrigue registering as to the possible culprit.

"Yes. He was shut down, moments ago." Zane said. "I am not sure of precisely who, but to narrow it down, I would suggest that it was either Agent Barton or Jay."

"It's not Barton..."Lloyd stated confidently. "Brock said he wasn't in the building. He's going to be keeping a lookout somewhere high up and close by, like always."

"Then I deduce by all factors being eliminated, that it is in fact Jay. And, his negligent hacking has granted us access to STARK tower. All we need to do is enter and make ourselves known."

"You make it sound so easy." Cole smiled, apprehensively. "Though, the art of stealth would be better surely? Unless you want to make a scene?"

"Hmm, quietness should be afforded. We do not want to alert the other lifeform in this building of our presence." Zane nodded in agreement.

"Any ideas what floor he's on?" Cole asked. Looking up at the list of floors on the metal signage in front of him on the street side. It only listed what offices were on each allotted floor space.

"Well, he is in the hundred's...if that helps?"

"Not really, Lloyd..." cOLE GROANED

Zane was performing a further scan of the building to check for additional signs of life when he began receiving an urgent message. They all did.

"MOVE, take cover NOW." An imperative order came over the earpieces. Alerting the team of imminent danger to one and all.

The team took no chances to look up or across. All at once they dived under the sparse streetside lobby, just as a few heavy objects fell from the sky. A few of which, toppled off the reinforced concrete above them, landing at their feet.

Initially, the collision of something heavy and metal in structure had created such a loud din that Kai, who was closest at the time, jumped out of his skin in reaction.

A few seconds later and the reason for the noise was given. The remaining letters from Stark Tower fell off the lobby roof, landing pitifully on the street and kerbside. Those were what had been blasted off in the battle above, the one being fought in the skies.

Having narrowly avoided being hit by a twenty-foot letter K. One that had fallen from over 300 feet above. Kai had dove for cover, tucking his legs in to avoid any injury. "JEEPERS. What the actual...?"

Strangely enough, when the electrified remains of Tony Starks' surname had come crashing down, they didn't resemble much more than a mangled pile of metal and wires, though the letters were still discernible.

"That, was a close call," Cole said, his voice shaking with the surge in adrenaline. Trembling hands pulled Kai up to his feet as the latter brushed off the dust from his SHIELD issued jumpsuit.

"Thanks," Kai sighed, accepting Cole's help. "Too close." He hid the nerves from one and all. Not wanting to let it be known that he felt so utterly out of his depth in this place.

"Y'know," Lloyd said nearly breathless with the dust cloud surrounding them. "Y'know, if Jay was here, he would've said something about this. Would've made a panicked statement for sure but then he'd have made a joke about it too." He was trying to lighten the mood somewhat because he could see that Kai and Cole were shaken pretty bad by this near miss.

"About what?" Cole said, confusion clear on his face at what Lloyd was getting at. They were near enough blockaded in by the large letters now. Not able to go anywhere except into the building.

Lloyd bit back a smirk. They were all still alive, unhurt and being pummelled and attacked by Stark's building and they hadn't even breached the damn thing, it would have been hilarious. "About how Kai nearly died by being hit with a K."

"That's not funny," Kai said, straight-faced as ever. "I could have died, could've been killed."

"Yeah okay, 'captain coulda'. You didn't though."

"I suggest standing as close as possible to the wall or inside the building," Zane suggested. Motioning behind him at the glass-fronted entrance and abandoned reception. "This canopy will hold for the moment and, as far as I know, there is only one more letter remaining. I calculate our survival would be 99.99% safer if we retreated to the mezzanine inside."

"Thanks for the f***ing welcome, you morons!" Kai shouted upwards at the concrete canopy. The very thing that was protecting them from the heavy metal lettered projectiles. In a way, he was lucky that all of them could fit under the sparse city lobby of Stark Tower. Considering it wasn't a hotel lobby per se, but rather a street side one. Then, having sworn so loudly amongst his brethren. He looked apologetically at his sister, whom he knew to be scrutinising him at his choice of words.

But damn how close was that? He bit his lip because it had been an exceptionally close call. And, if it wasn't for the two steroid ridden boneheads; Rumlow and Rollings, Kai and his remaining brethren would have been flattened having met their demise by a bunch of literal letters. He could just imagine the humiliating scene of being found buried under them.

"I'm sorry Nya." He said sheepishly. Rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Any idea what floor we need?" he repeated again, this time, his voice was a little discouraged.

Shaking his head, Cole shrugged. Listening in to the earpiece for any further information, he couldn't believe that SHIELD would literally leave them to fend for themselves. It was remarkable really. If they really wanted to, they could attempt a rescue and then get the heck outta here, with Jay, alive. But then, actuality would come crashing down, because they'd still be stuck here, in this place with no feasible way to get home. "Sorry Kai. Nothing's coming through this thing. Looks like we're on our own."

"Like Brock and Rollins said we would be," Lloyd added. "Hey? Do you want to change into some comfortable stuff? These clothes are a little restrictive...plus, if we wear our usual gi's, maybe it'll help Jay to recognise us better?" He received nods from all around as each individual changed effortlessly into their regular ninja attire.

To cut the awkward atmosphere and now stuffy midday heat as Zane continued to obtain access to the building. Lloyd sat down and attempted to lighten the mood once more. "You remember earlier today, back in the canteen. That red masked vigilante?"

Cole was standing in their small confined space against the frontage of Stark tower, stuck under the lobby, trapped by twenty feet metal letters and mangled metal. He repositioned Kai's weapons for him and Kai eventually did the same. "Yeah, weird guy, Deadpool. Who names himself that?"

"Who names himself that and keeps a straight face?" Kai replied.

"You can't see his expression remember? His suit covers his entire face, even his eyes. I mean, how the heck does he even see, are they white contacts or little cameras?"

"I wish I knew Lloyd, really I do. Haa, I wonder if Jay asked him? They sparred y'know? Got on talking terms, well, enough for him to know Jay's name and his element."

"Whatever, I don't like him. The guy gave me the creeps. He's got more of a potty mouth than Ronin and that's another guy I don't trust."

Pot kettle black Kai...You cuss just as bad as he does...

"Kai, you don't trust Ronin because he's always double-crossing you. Why don't you like the red and black guy? You hardly know him."

"Because you can't see his face..." Kai reasoned.

"That's not a reason..." Lloyd stated from next to Zane. "Lame!"

Cole's eyebrow rose. Smirking at Lloyd's reaction. "Really, you're gonna stick with that? You realise that in our earlier days, we went around covering our hair too, only our eyes could be seen?" He argued.

"We were protecting our identities though. Just got a little inattentive after a while." Kai was happy once having his picture splashed about on his Chirp account, back at home. But then had come to regret it when he became sought after, and the popularity became too much to bear as fans began mobbing him in the streets. Heck, the guy even had a set of dolls made after him which made it all the worse.

"And so is he, protecting his identity. Haa, I'm just going to call him DP from now because the name is weird. But hey y'know what? DP chooses to cover his entire face akin to Samurai X and XL, right Nya?" Cole looked over to the black haired kunoichi. Knowing she'd agree because she'd done the same before becoming the master kunoichi of water.

"Yes, "she nodded in response. "He has an identity to hide. You know what it's like leading a double life? We all do. It's a risky business, dangerous. Maybe he has an alter ego or a family to think about?"

Lloyd was remaining close to his titanium brother as the master of ice was attempting to communicate with the downed AI system.

"So, just tell me again. Who are these guys, the ones who we're supposedly fighting?" Lloyd stilled, catching a glimpse of a reptilian creature that had landed on the unforgiving floor a good few feet away. Plasma rifle still in hand.

"The Chitauri," Zane replied. Staring at the dead thing from a cautious distance, not that the thing could get up and shoot at them. "And, before you ask. It is dead." He looked at it, then back at his team. There was a possibility that they would be safer in this enclosed space, but it wasn't ideal for their situation. He had thought about the idea of asking Kai to focus his fire-power on a small section of the mangled metal so they could escape but then the acrid smoke as a by-product would be hugely detrimental to the four of them and their respiratory health. His own LCD eyes were not fitted with any heated beams that would be strong enough to cut through metal and he would use too much energy in trying to do so, rendering him the need to power down before the fight.

"Right," Cole said, getting back to his feet. "We're gonna go in and scope out the place. But, before we do, is everyone okay?" He did a quick team check. A glance at everyone who was steadily getting to their feet. Everyone was nodding quietly, compliant with his relaxed order. Kai's shakes had subsided and he was rearing to go, even had his blades at the ready.

"And, we're here to disarm only, remember?" Cole advised. "We're not here to injure unless we have absolutely no choice. Life or death?"

"Got it, disarm only." Kai rolled his eyes. "As if I'd hurt Jay. No, these bad boys are for the other guys."

"Are we ready for this?" Lloyd bit his lip. Sucking in a deep breath of uncertainty at facing Jay. "Zane try it again. See if you can gain access now."

A grin finally graced Zane's metal features, having heard a satisfying click. All team members bar Zane were standing flush against the main doors until Zane tried again to gain access. It was quick this time, the front doors opened and four ninja fell into the abandoned main reception area. Zane was the only one still standing with a shit eating grin on his face and a small chuckle.

Well done tinman...

He had done that on purpose and Cole, after having Kai land on top of him was impressed with his tenacity. Straightening himself up once Kai had found his footing, Cole patted Zane on the back. "Thanks for that, a little warning next time?"

"Do not mention it. My pleasure..." He opened his panel and switched the humour switch to its off position.

The place was immaculate. There was a shined marble floor that contrasted so well with the sleek black and contrasting brushed stainless steel Stark letters on the wall. Even a small coffee bar stood clean, gleaming in the far corner.

It was eerily silent in here too. Remarkably not a speck of dust to be seen.

"Well, this officially sucks..." Cole grumbled from the far side. Head in hands but not entirely surprised by this set of events to befall them again.

"What's wrong?" Nya called, joining him. She had already figured out the answer when she had got to his side. Seeing for herself that none of the elevator buttons were lit. Similarly, no LED signage above was indicating what floor the elevator cars were located. "The power must be out to the lower floors?"

"The lifts are down..." Cole replied, to the team. Having pressed the buttons to all three elevators in quick succession. "How many floors does this building have and where is the emergency stairwell? I don't want to be here at nightfall and I'm not climbing the lift shaft."

"Only the lower floors...Nya," Zane said quietly. He was patched in wirelessly and even he was frowning when he turned to face the team. They were waiting expectantly. "It has ninety-three floors, and...additionally, a further ten belong to Mr Tony Stark. These make up his living accommodations."

"What? Are you kidding me?" Kai groaned. Looking wildly for the stairwell entrance, least to get this arduous journey over with.

"Actually, in emergency situations...taking the elevator is a dangerous thing to do. Entrapment, fire, the cables though incredibly strong and tensile can only support so much heat or stress before plunging."

"Hmm great. So stairwell it is then. Have you found out what floor he's on?"

"Kai..." Zane disconnected from the mainframe. "Jay is on the ninety-eighth floor."

"Urgh, fine... let's go then." He barked, walking off in a grump past Cole and Lloyd. Somewhat wishing he'd saved the candy bar for this journey. Because after walking up this many flights of stairs, he was gonna need something.


	10. Raiding Stark tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter where Jay flat out elbows Nya in the face.

Mmmm," Cole moaned softly. "Can you feel the burn?" He grinned, stretching out his quadriceps on the eighty-sixth floor. "I'm telling you. If you don't stretch, the lactic acid's going to build up in your muscles and prolong it. Seriously, you gotta stretch it out." He didn't look behind himself at his companions as they sat but rather concentrated on maintaining his own strength for what was about to come. His gaze occasionally peeking up between the railings to see if he could detect the final set of steps.

"How can you be in a jovial mood, considering this crap heap?" Kai questioned. Looking up at the expression on his ebony haired brother. The one who was revelling in his own muscular discomfort. Kai was merely rubbing his muscle pains out while waiting for Lloyd to return from his lonesome jaunt into the abandoned offices, adjacent to where they were huddled in the stairwell.

Cole was observing her sitting, recouping her fighting spirit. Nya, Jay's girlfriend, and the only kunoichi of the team, right now she was all solemn. Occasionally snappy and not just at Kai, everyone was getting it, even Zane. Cole had tried to console her, just as she had when he was cursed by Yang, but it was no use. For some reason, unknown to Cole, she was blaming herself for this, for Jay. And nothing he could say or do would snap her out of it either.

For now, Cole could see she was resting. Attempting to get her breath back into some sort of manageable cadence after having traversed so many flights in one go. Intermittently, she had begun cycling her legs to give some additional strength to get to the top of this building.

Thoughts back on himself again, he pondered. Initially, they had all felt relief from actually getting into this place in one piece. Lloyd had outwardly admitted that foreseeing the worst, he thought he was going to be cut to shreds by lasers at one point. After all, Kai was almost levelled by twenty feet metal letters from outside. He was sort of expecting something huge to happen to him, but it hadn't.

Cole knew that there was nothing remotely inspiring about this situation. Nothing compelling enough to get the pulse racing and the adrenaline surging at the same time.

The nervous excitement, the anticipation of seeing their brother again after so many weeks was still there. But after traversing seventy plus floors, the expectation was beginning to wear thin. And doubt was creeping in at how much danger they were putting themselves in. The problem is and Cole knew it, as a team, they had barely received a decent brief of what was happening. All they knew about Loki was that he wasn't from earth. Well, they had something in common at least and that was where the similarities ended.

The master of fire retrieved a warmed bottle of water from his gi and took a large gulp from it before screwing the top back on and stowing it away in his inner pockets. Looking up at the floor number with a feeling of dread and apprehension at what lay ahead, He turned to face Zane. "After so many floors, you'd expect to see one of those window cleaning platforms? But this guy must keep them locked away too."

Zane had looked out of the small steel-framed transom. These small window recesses were found on every other floor. Providing the only natural light in the lonely concrete stairway. A quick glimpse was all it required, Zane could only see the one side and there were no lift platforms to speak of. "Maybe Mr Stark does not use them?" He said, offering a valid excuse.

Not that it would have helped in the slightest. The window cleaning platforms still required a modicum of continuous power to function and operate. And, with their elements on the fritz, it was too risky to consider.

Cole nodded in agreement, a smirk gracing his now rugged features. "What if he uses his legion of Ironman suits to do the cleaning for him." He intoned, shrugging. Stretching out the other leg. Chuckling to himself, he turned to face the door. "Haa, it'd be much faster if you think about it? A whole sentry of his AI suits cleaning the building, and what a sight too."

"Indeed, but then I doubt that Stark Enterprises would turn down such small business the opportunity to make money," Zane replied in a monosyllabic voice that seemed to echo around the bare concrete walls. "You must remember the amount of energy required to power each of his suits of iron comes at a personal cost to him."

"You mean like aviation fuel?" Kai said, eyebrows raised.

"No," Zane replied. "Mr Stark created a non-conventional electrical power device. Otherwise known as an electro-magnetic arc reactor which is not constrained by the size and weight limitations of conventional technology. That alone, although a dependable energy source, is still a costly fuel."

"Haa whatever!" Kai snorted. "The dude is still loaded. He doesn't give a rats ass about smaller companies because he's arrogant and so far up his own a..."

"Kai?" Nya called. "Please, can we just stop the angry tirade. This is difficult for all of us, let's not make it harder than it needs to be."

"Hey, it wasn't an angry tirade," Cole stated. "He's just saying it as he sees it."

"Indeed he is." Zane frowned again. He had been the only one to converse with Iron Man and his AI. He found Mr Stark to be an interesting man, an inventor, not unlike his own brother Jay, though Jay did not have the ego.

Lloyd had walked through the emergency access door thanks to Cole breaking it down initially. Legs slightly stiff, he shook the pain off with a few long stretches before scouring the office suites.

Now having sauntered into the deserted offices. Lloyd spied some cooled coffee carafes, and right next to the cold beverages was a wicker basket of sugary goodness and baked goodies. It seemed wasteful not to eat them, so he took them in the basket provided. Then, on his way back to the door and his eagerly awaiting team, he stopped. In front of him was a vending machine. He growled at it, noting that the machine took money or credit cards, neither of which he had at that moment. But of course, he wasn't planning on buying the candy.

He did a hastily written note, an 'I owe you' for Stark. Lloyd would pay him back if needs be. But for the moment, they needed energy and fast because each and every one of them was waning, running low on reserves.

Momentarily stopping in front of it. Lloyd placed the basket under his arm and bottles of juice under his other. He was dithering as to which element to use to garner the required candy for this expedition. Without more than a moment of hesitation, he chose Jay's and his eyes widened ever so slightly at the sheer lack of it. Frowning at the absence Lloyd couldn't summon it at all. So instead, he simply used his own, pushing that to the back of his mind. He'd ask about it later.

Almost heavily laden with sweet treats and a basket of recently abandoned pastries of which any of them were yet to try. He had sauntered out of the office block with a selection to tempt his teammates with. All high energy foods, guaranteed to give a sugar high and get them all up the remaining stairs to face their brother.

And, as he'd made his way back to the door with the basket under his arm and a few OJ's under his other. He pondered on the differences in the provisions he had tried. Truthfully, they had only been given the SHIELD equivalent of pastries for breakfast, if they were quick enough to get the freshest baked foodstuffs. And most of their stuff was cooked in bulk, on-site and in the canteens. The difference is, this stuff looked to be made by a delicatessen or a nice bakery. It actually looked edible.

He shook his head in realisation as he took a bite of an iced pastry he'd not tried before. Mouth drooling at the sugary goodness. "Haa, y'know for such a multinational company, SHIELD has shitty caterers." He mumbled, talking to himself.

Closing in on the door, Lloyd grumbled again. He hadn't fully thought this through because he had no surface to plant to the basket down on and if he did, the bottles would fall from his grasp too. So, being as he had no free hands to push the door. Lloyd turned around and used his backside to open it. It was quite easy to do so since Cole had near enough destroyed it trying to wrench it open initially.

Now back in the echoing stairwell, Lloyd's smile returned at the presence of his brothers and Nya. "Surprise, look what I found." He yelled. Excitement clear to see on his face. As well as the traces of icing on his top lip.

"Ooh, a veritable banquet. This reminds me of Chen's island." Cole was quick to state. He stared wistfully into the basket of goodies, inspecting each one to see which he favoured the most.

"No," Lloyd said, placing the bottles down. "Chen's was all table based food, except in your room, of course." He corrected, remembering none too fondly.

"Lloyd's right," Kai said, nodding his head in agreement. "I never got to see a banquet like that at Chen's, I think you're mistaking that for Harumi's? Y'know the banquet you barely even tried because you feigned that you didn't like cake anymore?"

"What? It was the moment in my life when I was worried about my waist-line."

"In your early twenties, you were worried about your waist? Most people don't get that until they reach 30...or 40." Kai smirked. "Go on Cole, live a little."

"They say, everything in moderation including moderation. It is a good lesson to live by." Zane stated, taking a decorative orange from the basket and peeling it. Completely forgoing the sugary treats...for now.

Cole did the same, though his eyes remained glued to the only unclaimed chocolate muffin. It wouldn't have bothered Cole though, he only needed swet treats for the carbs and sugar content. Some fast energy, that was all that he needed. And he spied the basket again after the orange had done very little.

Tony Stark had such the expensive office complex in the financial district of Downtown Manhattan, that they assumed he would at least be able to afford some decent food, and they weren't mistaken.

Then he watched as each member took one or two from the offered snack basket. Sifting through the croissants, Iced buns and apple turnovers. Cole spotted the chocolate muffin again and in a moment of weakness he quickly snatched it before anyone could lay their grubby mitts on it.

"What?" He said, noting that his brothers and Nya were watching him with a questioning stare. And he knew why. He remembered making what would have been seen as an outlandish statement, where he stated his body was a temple and he was laying off the sweet stuff. "Look, a guy can change his mind on sweet treats, can't he? Y'know, everything in moderation?"

"I believe I just uttered that, Cole."

"You did," He mumbled with cake crumbs around his mouth. "And I'm just ratifying it. To make a valid point." He grinned. Teeth now stained with chocolate crumbs. "I'm still the responsible one, just got to have a sweet treat once in a while."

The closer they were getting to the floor, the more noise could be heard from outside. And, at one point, the team thought they were under direct attack as something had collided with the building.

After a short while, the team of five had found an emergency fire escape at level ninety three. Well, Cole knew that every high rise had to have them. And heck, Stark Enterprises would be shut down by the guys at the building regulations offices if it didn't have the appropriate fire doors in place.

Luckily, this fire door wasn't locked anymore. It was initially, but with help from Kai and his focused fire bending skills, Cole had managed to rip the door off its hinges.

Pushing it with some force, Cole had bent the bracket that held it in place and the door opened with relative ease, though once they had come through it, the door fell on its side with a loud clunk. Cole cringed as did Kai. Simply because the loud din would have alerted anyone within a fifty-metre radius, that he had just breached the living quarters of one Tony Stark.

True, the door probably wouldn't be closing anytime soon either, but that was the least of his worries. Heck, Tony Stark could send SHIELD the bill, because, as of yet, Cole and his team weren't getting a dollar for their work. Cole hadn't been given a payroll number or the proper credentials to be considered as anything other than an alien, neither had his team.

Looking around with the expectation of seeing something new, Cole frowned slightly. Sure this place was different from the concrete grey stairwell, it was pure white and almost neverending. Somehow, he had found what appeared to be a long corridor. And, as expected like the floors below, this too was abandoned.

To be expected really. The civilians had been evacuated to relative safety whilst the majority of fighting was taking place on and around this area. It was still disconcerting though, to be in this building, hearing things being pummelled against it on occasion. Whilst the incomplete Avengers team outside attempted to thwart Loki and the rift he was trying to create.

Once he had walked into the narrow long hall of the reception room he gawked at the objects on display. "Impressive, doesn't look like much though does it?" Cole said, eyes roving over the large thin room.

"It's minimalist, is what you're saying?" Kai said, nodding slowly. "This guy likes his toys though. Check this out," he said, picking up a small device and a remote.

"It's not that impressive." Nya intoned. The disappointment evident on her face and voice as she looked around the place with disdain. "He's spoilt, it's just...crass. I mean look how much stuff he has, does he truly need all of this?"

"This company originally belonged to his late father," Lloyd said. "Tony Stark made it what it is today, kinda like someone we all know back at home did. The same person who built his company up from nothing to being the most prominent in its field of high tech gadgetry."

"I would not do that Kai," Zane urged. "Mr Stark is very protective of his personal possessions. That could well be a prototype, one of its kind." He added for emphasis. "Irreplaceable..."

"Yeah, I bet he's protective of it," Kai said, rolling his eyes petulantly. He placed the object down just as gently as he'd picked it up. "He's got more money than sense."

"Finally, someone who agrees," Nya stated. "This whole thing reminds me of a certain family we met back in Ninjago, too much gold?"

"Actually," Zane interjected. "Mr Stark gives to charity causes too. He may be successful with providing armaments and relevant ammunitions but he attends regular charity functions and donates sizeable portions of his yearly incomings."

"How do you know all this?" Cole gaped.

"It is common knowledge. It is in the public domain. Furthermore, it is easily accessible through the wonders of WIFI and the global internet here."

"Well, being as your the only guy that can access the internet here, I'll take your word for it." Cole smiled, nodding slowly as he took in the narrow hallway that was leading to double doors dead ahead. "This place," he said. "It reminds me of Cyrus Borg's office. All the tech and gadgetry, the fact that he doesn't like his stuff being touched either."

"Yeah, but Borg actually makes stuff for us. Well, he did, once..." Lloyd replied. "I guess when trouble dies down, there's not really a need for high tech wheels or new weapons?"

"Guess you're right," Cole grunted as he pushed the doors. Expecting for them to put up a bit more of struggle and then he was wholly stunned when the double doors gave way and opened outwards. It was a small miracle that Cole hadn't faceplanted, but then he was still holding onto part of the frame at the time.

The double doors, to Cole's surprise, were not locked. He was at least expecting that. But then this was the fire exit and emergency stairwell. The hallway just traversed looked like it was hardly ever used. Yet it still appeared spotless, not a speck of dust anywhere.

Cole, shaking his head, had motioned his team into Tony Stark's private living quarters. Taking a quick glance around the luxury pad and ground floor atrium of his penthouse. Cole could tell that this Tony guy was a rich eligible bachelor. He certainly lived the life of a playboy. It was all fairly obvious though, the place had his name emblazoned on every surface. The only room that hadn't got his name signposted was the garage. The team between them had never seen so many luxury and expensive cars before in one room.

A small shuffling sound caught the whole team unawares and Cole stilled in his movements. Motioning his team to pull back until he could find the source of the slight disturbance, he couldn't take any risks. "Zane, scan the room. Think we've got company," he said, voice lowered. As habit forming as it was, Cole and his team had pulled up their scarves to hide their faces.

Then finally, to commence this attack, Cole pulled his weapons from his dual back holder, reflexively and Kai, he did the same. "Subdue only..." Cole warned.

He nodded in agreement. "Unless it's someone else?" Kai queried, spinning his dual tanto in his hands to warm up the tsuka bound grips on both carbon fibre weapons.

"We're not here to injure or kill, we need him in one piece," Lloyd stated from the back of the group. "Elements first, weapons last, got it? Keep your eyes peeled, he could be anywhere."

"What if Jay's using weapons too?" Kai asked, unsure. "Are we still just going to chance it, that he won't run us through?"

Zane closed in. Squeezing between the armed pair to alert them of the hostile that was here too. "Two floors up. He perceives we are here." He replied. Pulling his shuriken from his belt. "Subdue only, armaments to be used as a definitive option, defence only."

"He, you mean Jay, how? How the heck does he know that? We've been silent from ninety upwards." Kai argued. He scoured the place from his vantage point. Only being able to see two flights up and into the spacious living area. There were old French polished bookcases strewn everywhere. The appearance of them against the modern furniture looked odd in comparison, especially in contrast to the machinery and assorted trophies that Stark had won.

"I-I don't know, Kai. But whoever it is, knows we're here so we gotta be prepared for anything."

Cole was about to turn and ask Lloyd and Nya if they were ready for this when a lonesome dark figure had appeared in front of them, having jumped from two flights up. Landing with a heavy thud in a crouching stance. He grunted slightly at the feeling of breathlessness, all the wind jarred from his lungs in that impressive but risky manoeuvre. The man remained hunched over, getting his breath back. Steadily, his arms had begun to unfold and he grasped at his crossed katana behind him. Cut and bloodied up hands were gently touching and caressing the bound tsuka handles of his jet black weapons.

Eyes widening at the scene before him, Cole sucked in a breath and held it, waiting for the next move.

The appearance of a lone warrior had shaken him to the core. He certainly wasn't expecting to be jump scared like that. Cole was more expecting to burst into a room and fight. Though, to be fair...what was he really expecting? It was Jay that they were looking for. This guy looked nothing like him.

"Who is that?" Kai queried, worriedly. His grasp tighter on his weapons as he took in the massively threatening stance now afforded to all five. Not to mention the arc of this man's eyebrows was raised. Was he mocking them, as a team? "Zane, can you uh, scan it?"

"It?" Zane frowned. Voice lowered so as not to insult. Though he doubted his refraining from being impertinent would change the stance of this relatively unknown foe. He certainly looked ready to impose pain. Surely if he was sent to kill, he would have already so. "This is clearly a man," He cringed, "One we know well."

The guy before him looked vaguely familiar. But it was a face that looked so different from the same one seen nine weeks prior. Cole, breath held as he took in the state of the man before him. "Jay?" He said softly. Voice doubtful. He had been told it was Jay but he wasn't really sure anymore. The appearance of his auburn haired brother had shaken him and he shifted back in response to get a better look.

He thought that he and his team looked like shit after these last few days. What with all the travelling and weird food here. Not to mention the sheer amount of stairs travelled up, to get to this point. But this man looked terrible and he hoped that it wasn't the man they were all looking for. Because this was beyond cruel, this was barbaric.

Cole hadn't received an answer to his question. He wondered if the man who stood directly in front could hear him, or if his mind had been spirited away. He shook his head when he watched the man. Willing him to stop, to rethink this futile plan. He was outnumbered, one against five was no fair fight. "Please, don't!" Cole warned, pleading.

Breathing heavily from the noxious gas he had just been exposed to, the warrior slowly unsheathed two obscenely sharp ebony coloured blades. He coughed, remaining low as he crossed both blades in front of his face.

"That, that's Jay?" Kai whispered in Lloyd's general direction. Mostly under his breath to avoid his words being heard by any other. He was stunned at the sight before him, as was his sister whom he had to physically restrain with help from Lloyd, from rushing forward into the standoff. Her face had dropped as soon as it was revealed who she was seeing.

Oh god, Jay...

Cole narrowed his gaze to get a better look at the partially disguised man who was armed and ready. Having unsheathed both black katana in a deadly attack pose. A stance that didn't resemble any fighting style he had seen before.

What has he done to you?

Obviously, it was Jay, who else could it be? The visible mop of chestnut brown hair could be seen clear as day but the outfit he wore was something else. His blue gi was none existent. This one was all leather split tails and tight carbon kevlar under-garments that gave him fluidity in movement, as noted by the impressive acrobatic stunt Jay had just pulled off.

Surely if it was Jay, he would have said something, so Cole thought. But this was eerie. The man flicked his head from time to time, looking like he had a nervous tic or something. Whatever it was, Cole didn't like it. This guy was creeping him out with that solid enduring stare and the way he had jumped from two floors up to land without a broken bone on this unforgiving cold mezzanine floor.

Cole noted that this guy still hadn't spoken. But he was eyeing each team member up for size and weaponry. Cole thought that at a guess he was questioning which to fight first and which would be the easiest foe to take down.

"Last words?" Jay said. Far too quietly for anyone to hear.

"Jay?" Cole tried again. His stomach churning at the deathly silence. "Uhm, are you okay bro, J-Jay!"

"No, he's not okay." Lloyd hissed from behind. Grip tight on his own weapon. "Look at his face. He's already wounded."

"And, he's not talking." Cole frowned. "Jay, you know who we are, right?" He pulled his scarf down, motioning his team to do the same.

Nya was trying to stand forward. "Jay? We're here to bring you home."

"Strange last words..." He mouthed again, but the scarf hid his parched lips from view.

Having been about to hold her back from nearing Jay in his brainwashed state, Cole was unfortunately too slow. Before he even had a chance to do anything, Jay had used his practised moves against everyone. It was a given that Cole nor Kai had been expecting that little move because three of them had been thrown against the back wall by the force of it.

Cole grunted when he collided with the wall. He felt his head, his face, and looked back at Kai who was reeling off some choice expletives. A small sigh of relief, no injuries yet, just bruised egos. Both struggling to get back up. Cole staggered, leaning sideways against the wall, watching as Zane approached Jay. His purple scarf still covered his face. Only his hollow blue eyes could be seen, and they looked haunting. Nothing like the rich sapphire orbs they had all been used to seeing.

He looked up at Jay. It was Zane standing in front of him now. Trying to reason with him and it looked to be working. Zane had frozen him to the spot whilst he tried to talk, to understand and to communicate.

Crawling to his hands and knees, Cole steadily raised himself, to assist his brother, rather than expect him to face him alone. He wasn't close enough to hear the exchange of words that Zane and Jay were muttering but it didn't seem pleasant. Jay had his hand on the shuriken that Zane was holding firm, he had ripped it from his grasp, casting it aside before capturing Zane's neck in a lightning-quick move. In a matter of seconds, Jay's black blade was deftly cutting through the ice like it wasn't even there and before Cole or Zane had a moment to react, the weapon was lifted and the pommel of it was driven ruthlessly into Zane's face. Making a satisfying crunch that made Jay's eyes narrow and a crude smirk to appear on his partially covered face.

Cole cringed when Zane took a pommel to his face. The blow had made contact, leaving an unsightly dent in its place.

"God I hope that can be buffed out... You okay Zane?"

Struggling to get back to his feet, Cole had his weapons tucked away for the moment. He rushed to Zane's side as his brother had fallen backwards from the blow. Grasping his brother he checked Zane over for any glitching signs. Then from his position, he glared up at Jay. He could tell that his brainwashed brother had been confused by that move. Jay looked to be expecting blood, simply forgetting or not realising that Zane was a robotic lifeform.

Everything was spinning in Cole's head. His brothers were playing fair. Taking him on one by one. but it wasn't having an iota of difference. Kai had taken to using his weapon, despite Lloyd shouting not to. But he'd done it anyway. And, to make matters worse, he used his element to make the sword appear more intimidating. Cole didn't dare look, he had a feeling it wouldn't end well and he was right.

Cole knew that they needed a new tactic. He had fought Jay, hand to hand combat. Completely forgoing his weapons, he even managed to get a solid punch to Jay's chest, but that was it. Weapons were no good for this fight, well they were, but they were too risky an alternative. Director Fury himself had said that Jay and Hawkeye could be wounded. So the less lethal option would be better. Honestly, they had to try something. This was useless, Jay was beating them two on one and one on one.

And he still wasn't talking.

Lloyd was taking him on now. It was unbelievable to watch. Heartbreaking in a sense. Jay had no idea how much he was destroying his team's morale by beating the crap out of each of them. Cole had a black eye coming, a sore gut from a volley of punches and a very near miss of being skewered on Jay's black blade.

"Why, why is he d-doing this?" Kai grunted, holding his bleeding nose. "Doesn't he recognise his own brothers?"

"Here," Zane said. Offering some cotton wool plugs. "For your nose."

"You want the obvious answer, hothead?" Cole winced, remaining seated on the floor next to Lloyd who was nursing his head after hitting the wall. "He doesn't know who we are."

Zane shook his head. Glitching slightly. "Mind-controlled, ergo he does not have any idea as to who we are."

"Well, what do you suggest?" Kai said, distraught. Watching fearfully as his sister went up against Jay. He was the man whom up until a few months ago had tried to propose. Had even asked Kai's permission to do so. And here they were fighting like Jay hated her guts and she, for the life of her, didn't know why. "Please, Cole...do something."

It was painful to watch, to see her heart breaking with every hit she landed then every retaliatory blow she received back. She was fighting as hard as she promised she would, no holds barred. Nya tried to avoid his face, the very face she had fallen in love with. She tried not to look into his mocking blue eyes. And tried her hardest not to take it personally when he delivered such a punch into her midsection that hunched her over instantaneously. His foot remained on her back, pushing her further down.

He had no choice, he had to stop this. Cole winced as he crawled across the floor, finally close enough, he grasped Nya but not before receiving a hefty kick to his ribs. Cole pulled her to relative safety away from Jay's grasp and further harm.

Cole waited, stayed with baited breath as to Jay's next move.

But Jay did nothing, he crouched low. Weapons back to crossing in front of his face.

Cole quickly understood. Jay was guarding the staircase behind him. He was protecting the God upstairs. And by his actions alone, he wasn't sent to kill them, only prevent them from disturbing Loki's heinous plan.

Welp, they've found Jay. But then if you've been following the other story you already knew this. This is from their perspective, or more precisely, from Cole's pov.

Thank you for the reviews so far.


	11. Fight club.

She had managed to get to her feet, despite Jay pressing his foot into her back. She'd rolled and then stood before him.

_A foolish mistake_...

The crack that echoed through the room made most of the ninja cringe...except for two.

The blue ninja was smirking.

The red one was scowling at him in response to what he'd just done.

Cole couldn't believe his eyes. Jay had hit Nya and he'd very probably broken her nose... _without a hint of remorse_.

It was near enough the same move that Jay had recently used on him. But instead of Jay using his elbow to deliver an injury as he had just done with Nya, he had thusly used the kashira pommel on his katana. Therefore, Cole was lucky, in a sense because that move in former battles would have broken his nose for sure, though currently, his own didn't feel busted in the slightest, just bruised and bleeding.

Nya's however, hers seemed to be in dire need of medical assistance and a few steri strips to hold the gash together at the bridge.

_Why the flip didn't he recognise her?_

Yeah sure, Nick Fury, the director of SHIELD had told them this much might happen. There may be recognition issues because Jay's mind was a complete mess. An Agent had even gone so far as to say that 'Jay was as mad as a bag of cats' right about now. And why was he like this? Loki. The man #god from Asgard had made Jay's power unstable, his strength was surpassing that of most whilst he remained in such close proximity to the one who made him thus.

He cringed, Cole bit his lip as he watched Nya crumple to the floor in shock.

The whole thing had been a slow-mo action shot. Cole was too dazed to catch her himself but thankfully he saw Kai dive to get her before she fell and hit the floor.

Kai had caught her, she was down and out for the count. Blood streaming from her nose, a slight gash above the bridge.

Cole knew deep down why Kai was pissed and why he was growling deep in his throat as he took in his sister's new wounds. It didn't take a genius to see that her wounds were steadily racking up. Heck, everyone's were.

But hers' like everyone else's, were all caused by the man who said he would never hurt her, physically or metaphorically.

He wondered though as he switched from Nya to Kai, the latter who was cradling his sister in his arms. He remembered that Jay had paused before smacking her one. And though he didn't think Jay would've followed through with it, he had cringed as Jay's elbow had connected with her nose.

But...Jay had still faltered, that had to mean something, right? Was this a possible sign of recollection?

Looking sympathetically at the kunoichi of water, Cole knew that move would've hurt. Heck, it would have hurt anyone, even him. The thing is; he noticed that Jay had locked eyes with Nya. He actually listened to her tone and watched her body language, her fluidity in movement. And it was a split second decision too. Jay had observed her, then cocked his head, swinging his obscenely sharp blades around in circles.

And then he waited. . .Jay waited until they were a hair's breadth apart before clicking his neck unnaturally as if following a direct order. Ruthlessly, he followed through with the blow. The cracking sound of her had nose echoed around the room mercilessly. As did the shriek of pain that followed it.

And it was such a unique thing to witness, not the fact that his team were falling before his eyes or that Kai was struggling to contain his rage but because Jay's head had flicked to the side, in what looked to Cole, like a nervous tic.

Was this a side effect of the mind control he'd been subjected to?

To Cole, his brother in arms didn't look to be in any pain, per se, but whatever hold Loki had on him, looked to be physically exhausting.

In a matter of seconds, Cole was frowning again. Kai having retrieved Nya for the second time from Jay's attack had warily got to his feet. His usually hot-tempered brother was always likely to go off on one or overreact in situations that affected his sister. He'd done it before and he sure as heck, looked like he was about to do it again. Consternated browns gazed up to burning amber, his hand shooting up to forestall the fire ninja's rage. "Kai? Please."

Reaching out to halt him, Cole grasped his brother's arm. A desperate effort to stop him from making a bum move and doing something he might regret. "Kai, don't, we need a plan. You can't just go in all guns blazing."

"I have a plan," Kai replied, eyes solely focused on Jay. "Attack." He hissed, through gritted teeth. "Nobody hurts my sister and gets away with it."

Trying to hide the shock when Kai had pulled away from his grasp. Cole knew this wasn't going to end well, still what was he supposed to do? Lloyd was recovering from a light concussion and Zane, he was glitching ever so slightly. He turned to look at Jay and his brother was talking, albeit quietly...to himself?

Well, he was talking and answering himself. He looked like he'd lost the plot, almost insane in his mad ramblings as he communicated with no-one, just his self.

_"You wanted me to take them down?_ _To keep them away?"_

_"They're planning something."_

Were these his internal thoughts? Cole could hear Jay mumbling these things out loud because they were repeating ad finitum and his eyes, at times, were rolling backwards unnaturally.

It was disturbing, to say the least.

The thing that got Cole the most, was that leading up to this point in their battle for control of this stupid tower, Jay had been silent. There had been no usual battle cries and no excited gloating about how he was planning on taking them all down.

It was all just...silence. But then, the presence of his usually loquacious voice had brought no immediate relief either. Other than for Cole to know that Jay could still talk. It wasn't anywhere near as full of banter or as jokey as he'd come to expect of his lightning mouthed brother. What he uttered had been monosyllabic at best, emotionless and devoid of any humour. Definitely not the usual playful intonation they had all grown used to.

Cole remained seated. He realised that Jay wouldn't attack if they waited against the wall. Because as Zane had affirmed, Jay was protecting the staircase behind him. "Guys, we need a different plan of action. This isn't achieving anything."

"Anything worthwhile, other than getting him irritated?" Zane stated. He was tending to Nya's wounds, forgoing of his own glitchy issues.

_Shit, this isn't good. Even the great and reliable Zane is out of clues_.

Strangely enough, with all this bloodshed and fighting. There was a plus side to some of it. At least Cole had heard him speak, although the words he'd chosen to utter were vile, cruel and unnecessary. The thing is; Jay had actually verbalised something. Which, in itself, had been better than nothing.

"JAY!" Cole yelled, pinching his nose to stem the flow. "What's got into you? Why are you doing this?"

"Got into me, what do you mean got into me; other than pure unadulterated power?" He laughed.

It was such a different and corrosive chortle that was so full of dark undertones it made Cole bristle at the sound of his brothers' humourless laugh.

"Haa, take a look closer, this is who I am now, who I was and what I was meant to be."

Furious amber eyes locked onto brainwashed evil blues. "I can stop you..." Kai replied under his breath, jaw clenched. " _And I will_."

A tumultuous roar of outrage ensued as blades suddenly clashed. Jay had been forced backwards with Kai's ferocity and his focused attacks gave Lloyd enough time to gather his footing and attempt to stand.

"You can't stop me, none of you can," Jay said, parrying Kai's aggressive strikes with relative ease.

A loud boom had followed and the appearance of lightning had shown itself in the atrium. The swords that Kai had been wielding had clattered to the floor in silence as the room was shaken with the echoing roar of thunder. Once Cole's eyes had adjusted from the brightness, he saw Jay standing upright, scarf partially uncovering his face and Kai up against the wall, unconscious.

"One question," Cole heard Jay talk, and he was speaking directly to the team, rather than just one.

"How do you know my name?" He said.

Cole was dumbstruck. He hadn't been expecting this question and he only had one answer for it too. "R-really?"

"Yeah," Jay resheathed the one blade. Licking the solitary wound he had sustained. "Who are you and how do you know my name?"

It was incomprehensible. He looked to his brothers for back up but Lloyd had his own issues looking after Kai, perking him up with some smelling salts. "We're your brothers, we've come to take you home. Well back to the Bounty, back to Ninjago."

Was that enough of an answer though? Cole watched as the words went in. Saw how Jay processed them, thinking about what had been stated. But then that damned mind control again. His neck cracked and he shook away the notion as soon as it had been uttered.

Damn you Loki...

At Cole's side was Lloyd. The master of energy was shielding his eyes from the brightness of Jay's most recent attack. Standing bravely, courageously while attempting to reason. To see if Jay would remember anything of what he once was. Where he had come from and where he to his side and the bright green light that had caught his attention. Cole saw Lloyd leaning against the wall.

"What are ya gonna do?" Cole asked. His own head was still spinning as he looked intermittently at Kai then at Lloyd, the latter being concussed slightly, using the wall to steady himself after colliding with it once or twice.

"Use an energy pulse, low level," he grunted, standing as straight as he could. "Might be able to subdue him long enough to get him to see reason, to see that we're no threat."

"It's too risky." Cole moaned softly as he tried to move to his knees. "Our elements are unpredictable. Coulson thought it was something to do with the cube." He took up the place of Lloyd, cradling Kai close to his body.

"We've got no choice here, Cole." Lloyd made to stand up tall as he locked eyes with the master of lightning. "We're your brothers, Jay. Your family." He said, standing closer still. Gaining ground, second by second.

Cole watched as Jay's hollow blue eyes flitted between everyone intermittently. He wasn't focused on one particular person, some of them he wasn't concerned about anymore. They were unmoving, hardly a threat. That was until Lloyd stood in his peripheral.

"I was recruited by Loki-" He said. His voice low, almost a dark whisper as he looked at Lloyd. "-To bring down SHIELD and all that stand in the way. NO MATTER THE COST!"

Cole sat, leaning back against the wall with Kai in his lap. "That's not who you are, deep down inside. You aren't like this. You'd never do it if it weren't for him, controlling you."

"Lies!" Jay's voice boomed. His eyes visibly sparking with currents of raw energy that seemed more supernatural than anything. "He said you'd attempt to do this. To persuade. To pacify me into a false sense of security and once trapped, you'd hand me over to them."

"To who?" Cole asked, shrugging his shoulders.

"To whom?" Zane corrected gently. "Who do you think we would hand you over to?"

"To SHIELD..." Jay replied. And, to make his words clearer, he removed his scarf, completely. "The thing is, I know what they have planned. For My Liege, a lifetime of solitude, for me, death..."

The thought of it brought Cole crashing back down to earth. Would SHIELD really hand Jay over to the authorities? Well, he had broken the laws here, killed well into double figures with plenty of civilian casualties to boot. But he wasn't himself, Jay was being controlled, surely they wouldn't hold it against him. The only danger he was in, was because he wasn't an actual human. Neither were Cole and his team. They weren't born here, and this, despite the fact that they all looked just like the people they mingled with.

"We would never abandon you, ever."

He clicked his neck again and it made Cole feel sick.

"You still lie..." A sad smile played on his face as if he knew what they had said wasn't at all truthful.

Cole felt a pang of guilt surface. No, they hadn't abandoned him, not at all. But they had waited a good nine weeks before attempting a rescue. And that was only because the cube hadn't reached full power until a good couple of months following Jay's disappearance. The thing had been playing up after Jay had left. With spikes in energy signatures and other systems on board the Bounty going haywire. Zane had also tried to work it out, judging by its shape alone, the energy within, it seemed to be projecting energy from elsewhere.

Shaking his head. Cole could see that Jay wasn't taking any of this in.

His eyes were closed for a few seconds and no more. Jay simply couldn't remember, to him they could have been uttering lie after lie.

"You're all pathetic. Are these your sentiments, to make me feel like I once belonged to you? That I once had a home that wasn't here, with him?"

"You, are our family," Cole urged. "He's using you." He, being Loki in this instance. Cole could only hope that this was going in and making sense.

Apathetic in expression, Jay shrugged. "I don't know you. Nothing about this is familiar to me," he uttered, watching as the female stirred. He remained there. Stationed and guarding the staircase behind him.

"Jay?" Cole pleaded. "Listen to us, to me. We don't wanna hurt you." He sat on the floor, cradling Kai. The red-clad ninja who was motionless knocked out cold whilst retaliating for the wound to his sisters face. The sister who was now sitting up, thanks to Zane's use of his cold compress hands.

"I don't believe you, or him." Jay pointed with his blade. The tip of it pointing at Kai. "I saw the hatred behind those moves. In his eyes, I could see how much pain he wanted to inflict. He doesn't care and neither do you."

It was near enough pointless. Cole could see it now. Jay had no idea what he'd done to the woman he had loved. Jay had undone all of his hard work from the last few years in building up that trust with Kai. The bond of trust whereby Jay had promised never to hurt her.

Cole had looked to his side. Eyes widening when he saw what Lloyd was about to do. It was the energy pulse, as Lloyd had forewarned he was going to use. The significant ball of green was as large as it had been when the master of energy had taken on his father on the Dark Island. And though mesmerising to look at, it was terrifying to observe. The blast alone was powerful against Garmadon, what was it going to do against Jay?

"Lloyd d-don't."

Jay's eyes had reluctantly followed Cole's. He spotted the small green ball, having felt some of the power from it earlier. "You can't hurt me," he stated again. A certain confidence to his tone. "I'm no one's brother and I've no family. Loki found me and took me in."

"He didn't find you, he kept you?" Cole argued. Honestly how irrational was Jay being?

"It's deception, he's twisting the truth. Why can't you see that?" Nya screamed, eyes overflowing with tears. "Why can't you, just see what he's doing?"

"Stole me, haa...if only," Jay chuckled. Eyes crudely lingering over Nya's form. "No matter though, I-I'm here to prevent you from..." His eyes suddenly widening at the ball of green energy closing in. It was getting bigger too, making Jay narrow his eyes with the brightness. "You can't disturb him, not now...I'm here to stop you, no matter the cost."

"Lloyd stop, don't do this..." Cole pleaded. Thinking on what Jay had just uttered. Was Jay's life the cost. Had Loki pinned him as expendable?

"Please, Jay, we're your family," Lloyd stated, getting nearer still. Hoping and praying that Jay would lower his blades because at present, he was still holding them firm, grip unrelenting. "We love you. Honestly, we came all this way to get you, to bring you home."

God, it was painful to watch. Cole could see Lloyd was losing it too.

"Please don't make me do this." He mumbled, energy ball increasing exponentially.

"Lloyd, stand down." Cole urged. The words that Fury spoke were ringing alarm bells. The simple fact that Jay could be hurt. Furthermore, Lloyd had never used his element as unrestrained as this, on a teammate, a brother.

* * *

 

Hours had passed since the epic fight.

Kai and Nya had received a stern talking to from a group of angry paramedics who had shown up at Stark tower only to be told that their so-called flat liner had upped and walked off after having CPR performed.

What in the hel had Loki done to Jay?

No normal person would have been able to withstand that. But Loki wasn't exactly of this earth was he? He was from a world where magic thrived and was just an unexplained and uncharted form of science that earth had not really discovered. But he was a master of the arcane, he dabbled in mischief, in the darkest magic, creating the most unease he could get away with.

"Why are you being like this?" Lloyd asked. "We need to stick together, work through it."

"Because we were too rough on him." Cole growled under his breath. "We didn't know when to stop."

Climbing aboard the quinjet, he shuffled furthest away from Kai. Feeling like his fiery-tempered brother had massively overstepped the mark.

Cole knew that his brother had heard him and he didn't really care. Fully expecting a retort to come flying his way and he waited as Kai formulated the excuse he was waiting for.

"He hit her, _Cole_. He elbowed her in the face," Kai hissed across the floor space. The cloth was still pressed firmly to his face, to dab the bleeding nostrils. "Broke her nose." He whispered the latter.

Cole didn't care about his own wounds. He'd bust his lip and received a sword handle to the face but other than that, he was feeling fine, a little tired from colliding with the wall though... "She's still alive though, Kai. You massively overreacted. You shouldn't have done it."

" _Whatever_ , I don't regret it. I mean look at her...bloodied and broken."

Cole had looked at her, of course, he had. He'd been worried about her from the moment they got here. Because she hadn't spoken all that much and now, to make matters worse, she had been attacked by her boyfriend. Well, to be fair, everyone had, no one was unscathed.

"This is Jay, our brother we're talking about. Everything else is irrelevant. We get injured all the damn time, what's a little blood huh?"

"You're being blind to it Cole. We've already lost him," Kai argued. "Honestly, you heard what he said. He didn't even know who we were, who _you_ were. No matter how much we tried, there was no getting through to him. Whether he's chosen to forget or whether it's been forcibly removed from his head, he's not coming back Cole. The sooner we realise, the better it'll be for everyone."

And that was it.

Cole remained silent the entire journey back.

Everyone remained mute in relative uncomfortable silence until Brock couldn't stand it anymore. He used the PA system and overrode the Quinjet security protocols to speak to the ninja and his blonde-haired comrade.

"Ladies, how bout some tunes?"

Cole stared at Kai, both at a standoff. No-one uttered a single syllable.

"Preferences? Seeing as these lot aint talking," Rollins asked, looking across at Brock.

"Fleetwood Mac, break the chain." Brock suggested. "Princess ain't talking either. Haa, I hope blue Jay ain't a love interest of any you lot. Once SHIELD catch him, he'll be going behind bars."

It only took a few minutes before the song came on. And at first, Cole couldn't hear it for the lame karaoke singing going on in the noisy quinjet. But then the chorus came on and it made it exponentially worse. Every word held true, and he felt so utterly lousy.

Kai wasn't helping in the slightest.

_Break the silence..._

How could he? His team was broken. Kai had stabbed Jay in his shoulder, an act of retaliation for breaking his sisters' nose.

I can still hear you saying that you must never break the chain...

It was too late for that now. The chain was already broken. And it was going to take a miracle to get them back together.

**Thanks for the reviews.**

**The song choice was used in Guardians of the Galaxy when Peter Quill flies to Ego with his father Ego...lol.**


	12. Chapter 12

A few hours had passed and Cole was by himself in the dojo. Honestly, to the first spinjitzu master, he hated this place, quite easily preferring to have been on the Dark Island rather than here. At least,  _there;_  he'd been able to get home easier. This place. . . no chance and what was worse? He couldn't even get outta here either  _without a parachute_ , and he couldn't go to that cake shop they'd passed today, nor that nice looking restaurant that sold noodles; amongst other things.

Because here, they were currently floating at a semi safe flying altitude of 4.5k in the troposphere of planet earth. Right now, at this moment, they were directly over Manhattan and Ellis Island.

The pressured door release broke his concentration, and he paused his repetitions against the Everlast punchbag.

"What are you doing?"

_Is that rhetorical? Surely it's pretty obvious. . ._

Continuing on with the blows and jabs at the swinging sandbag, he didn't answer straight away. Cole knew whose those dulcet tones belonged to and he recognised the gentle but firm authority behind the questioned words. It was none other than Lloyd. He didn't have to avert his gaze to see that either. He knew it and it still pained him to acknowledge that Lloyd was the only other one who'd come to seek him out this evening. This likely being because Kai and Nya had been in the medical wing, being treated for various issues ranging from a concussion and contusions to a broken nose for the past hour.

Even Zane had been straightened out somewhat, now meandering around the vastness that was the Iliad Helicarrier. Maybe Tony Stark had buffed out the tiny dent in Zane's face or got one of his exo suits to do all the hard work.

Cole had just left them to it, coming here for some clarity, and a bit of an upper body workout, coupled with self-reflection thrown in for good measure. He knew he had to be the responsible one, had to keep his wits about him, if not for his team; then for Jay. He hit the punchbag again. "I'm training." Came the firm but sharp reply.

"In the dark?" Lloyd teased, smiling.

_Obviously. . ._

Cole looked up with one hand on the bag. He'd sort of done this on purpose. Only the luminescence cast the brightness in here, the rest coming from his rapid earth punch and the bright glow that followed. And the thing is, this place in the dark, well...it was relaxing because he had been alone, undisturbed.

He'd waited,  _patiently_  until all the STRIKE guys had gone to the canteens. And along with them some of the SHIELD personnel had gone too, all en masse as a deluge of people flooded the upper decks in search of food. had left the lower training rooms, gym and pool free.

It was almost silent, save for the continual hum of the four huge repulsor engines outside.

And, it wasn't that dark. . .  _really._ He could see most of the large room and the darkness that played in the shadows, in some cases reminded him of being in the monastery's training grounds in the dead of night. "I like it like this, helps me focus. Blocks out all the unnecessary stuff."

_Such as the fact we're on a huge aircraft carrier._

Guessing it was quite lucky that they were on this ship and that there was adequate cloud cover beneath. It did a good job of hiding the sheer amount of billboard lights and halogen-lit skyscrapers, emitting as much brightness as Ninjago city did. Cole shrugged it off, heck, it was clear skies up here and out of the smoggy city. Literally hovering just off the Hudson Bay River below.

Even better, this great hulking ship had stayed put in this exact position for a few hours. Which meant that because of the lengthy debrief currently going on, Cole had taken advantage of the empty gym. . .Next on his agenda though, was a bite to eat. Apparently, the weirdly dressed red and black merc  _Deadpool_  had mentioned that today was Taco Tuesday, whatever that meant and he was eager to feed another craving of his.

Tentatively, Lloyd edged ever nearer, only stopping when he walked up to the uppercut punchbag Cole was beating into an oblivion. Firmly, as it was mid-swing he caught it with both hands. Looking up to partially observe his sweaty brother in arms, He was concerned that this recent fight and then subsequent deal was about to damage their already fractured team bonds.

"We failed him," Cole grunted, lashing out at the fighting equipment to his front. " _I_  failed him."

_Failed you. . ._

"Failed Jay? No, you can't think like that." He had been on the receiving end of this earth punch many a time when sparring and so he could tell that Cole was holding back some, maybe trying to hold it in, along with his frayed temper. Grabbing the bag again, he grunted, standing firm. "Look, you need to snap out of this, there's nothing we could've done differently. He was on a mission, it was kinda futile to even think we could persuade him."

"Whats the choice huh? You heard what he asked of us today?" Cole hissed, aiming a roundhouse punch at the dangling inanimate object. "A straight-up swap?"

* * *

How could he forget? Lloyd stood back, biting his lip. He remembered the messy exchange of words because the man they'd been warned about was attempting to make a deal and he'd chosen Cole to speak for the team. So when the conversation had taken a drastic turn towards him and the element he wielded, Lloyd felt awkward and uncertain around this man.

"I am willing to help, of course, it would require a trade. One for another?" He eyed Lloyd as he spoke.

"Why would we agree to that?" Cole spat. "We're not desperate."  _Damn, word choice sucks. . ._

A smirk crept onto Loki's face. "Desperate! Hmm bad choice of words. Is Jay really that below you, that you would choose to end his life so quickly without hearing the full package?" He sneered.

Hearing Lloyd tutting in response, Cole's jaw clenched. "I-I didn't mean it like that."

"No, no I understand perfectly. You are not desperate enough to gesture a swap, I see, of course, he will be most dismayed to hear of this."

"Don't twist my words, wh-what I meant was that surely we can agree to something that doesn't involve any of our team being used as a bargaining chip." Cole pleaded.

The tall dark haired man paused, his grip never relenting on sceptre nor bannister rail. "Tis is a choice I offer...simply put, the blue ninja is not immortal and he will eventually perish."

"Well, give him back then. Surely an Avenger would be better, right?" Cole looked to his side. Lloyd was cringing, Zane was frowning. Kai wasn't fussed, he was more concerned about his sister than playing this stupid game.

Loki was enjoying this far more than he should, a full set of salt white on show as he grinned. "Oooh, you speak so lowly of him, without even discerning. Tell me, are you the speaker for the team, do they feel the same about him or are these your own sentiments?"

"I-I didn't..." Cole stilled, words drying up.

"Why should I give him back?" Loki snarled. "I control him. He is mine, and if he survives the next few days I may have an opening for him too."

_How is he yours?_ Cole thought. _Jay controls his own life and direction, honestly who are you to say you own him. Did Jay pledge some stupid allegiance? Quite possibly if he'd been brainwashed into it._

"He'd never accept that if you gave him his mind back. He'd come straight back with us." Lloyd growled.

"But you will never get home, whilst SHIELD control's the Tesseract. Your plan is flawed, maybe reconsider my proposal, it would be beneficial, for him."

No agreement as yet so he dropped another idea that would get their attention. He was planning on doing this anyway, not that they could stop him...he was sure of it. "Of course, he could always accept my invitation and he would have by now if the fool was not so stubborn."

"What exactly do you mean? What invitation?" Cole quizzed impatiently. "Wh-what did you offer him?"

"An immortal life, free of the worries of disease and ageing. The only clause is, that he will be my protector, or bodyguard if you will. He will stay in this realm and Asgard, fighting by my side for all eternity." A sick smile contorted his face. He looked even worse up close.

Was this his bargain? His long-term plans perhaps? He certainly hoped not because the team would be ripped apart at the seams if this went ahead.

"But why would you offer him that? He'd never accept it, ever. W-what have you done to him?"

He laughed at them at their expense and their failures. "The bargain still stands, I will give you all a day to decide and no more," Loki said, raising his sceptre to admire it before pointing it threateningly at Cole. "If you truly care about Jay you will trade, otherwise. . ."

* * *

It didn't bear thinking about the  _otherwise_  part of that sentence. Cole was seeing red at the harrowing threat his team had received.

_Goddamnit. . ._ He growled, letting rip into the punchbag once again. "It was never Fury's intention to sway him back into the fold, was it?" Cole asked, his voice breaking as he flicked his wet bangs from his peripheral and cleared his throat. He knew he was soaked with sweat and panting. Not to mention, his muscles were burning from the effort of holding him upright.

Somehow, the pain drove him on and helped him to focus. Another volley of blows to the punchbag to slake his anger seemed to hold back his true feelings. "He doesn't care if Jay lives or dies, SHIELD only want the  _Asgardian_."

Never would he dare to admit that SHIELD wanted Jay and Cole for other reasons, probably Lloyd too, if they had been spying on him as well. Lloyd and Nya must've been the only two who hadn't lost control of their elements since being here, but then, neither had been dosed up on sodium pentothal to get the truth outta them, unlike Cole who had the full Coulson treatment.

"The who?" Lloyd quizzed, never having heard the term  _Asgardian_  before.

Frustrated, he paused his jabs again. "Loki, that's what he is, y'know?" Cole nodded, cocking his head to gauge Lloyd's understanding. "He's a teensy bit like us too, from another place; far away from here called Asgard. And I'll say now, that's where the similarities stop."

"So, he's got a chip on his shoulders then?" Lloyd surmised. "He must have, to do all this."

Figuring he wasn't going to get much more training in this evening he paused momentarily, looking across to his blonde haired brother. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Well, he obviously wanted something he couldn't have so he came here. The question though, is why?"

"Huh, you're asking me?" Cole said, laughing. "At a guess, it's more likely to do with power, and control?" he suggested, shrugging. "What else would it be? That's all supervillains want, isn't it?"

Lloyd was wholly unsure, there was sometimes a greater meaning behind these often futile takeover attempts such as a venomous snake bite or a shitty childhood, maybe continued bullying at school or spoiled parents who didn't a give rats ass about their kids, just plying them with more money. There was always a deeper meaning, surely?

The thing is, the ninja team hadn't been told much about the whole fiasco in New Mexico either. The one that involved the Destroyer being sent from Asgard to America to flatten to place in search of Thor. In what Loki saw as a brotherly bonding moment. No, this ninja team were quite literally and now somewhat metaphorically being kept in the dark. "Uh, I don't know anymore. I heard something different, a rumour going around."

Pondering the thought some more, he quickly remembered how the God walked around with a mind-controlling sceptre and this Director Fury was so tense about the blue cube all the time. Could both really guarantee Loki all the power and control he desired? Sure, the dude was strong and he had pushed Cole over easily but still...Loki was skinny and tall, didn't look as brawny as Thor. In fact, he could just imagine a fist fight with the man, but he doubted that Loki would play fair. "Why else? Look at your father before you removed the corruption, it was all he wanted. Thought that he could take on a vulnerable place and the people there would bow before him, sorta thing, bit like Loki and this place."

"Yeah, I guess so. But then, Ninjago never threatened it's citizens with nuclear deterrents though, unlike _this place,_ " Lloyd countered.

"I think you'll find that it was the so-called World Council. They were the ones who wanted to flatten the city and  _disturbingly_  all the people in it, not SHIELD or  _Loki_. They overrode Fury's direct order and to hell with it, they followed through. It was like they didn't give a shit about the civilians down there, y'know it would have got us too?"

Lloyd didn't argue with that. He vaguely remembered seeing a red and gold blur whizz past the window when they were fighting Jay in the atrium of Tony Stark's penthouse. He didn't know the reason for it though, until the debrief. "The thing is, Cole. . .He's that strong, isn't he?" He cringed as he spoke, noticing some confusion swimming into Coles exhausted face. "Loki, I mean? They didn't know what else to do."

An awkward silence ensued as he let those words sink in. "Not to mention, he's bulletproof," Lloyd added. "You know, he killed a man just by kicking him into a wall, I mean who can do that?"

Cole hadn't replied. There was some conviction behind Lloyd's words, doubt there too.

"He was unstoppable in Stuttgart, honestly Cole, they needed two other stronger men to subdue him. That's gotta mean something, gotta give you an idea of what we're up against here. Even the World council had given up on protecting the civilians. They were willing to kill millions just to get rid of the one God?"

"They were trying to get rid of the Chitauri,  _actually,"_ Cole said, terse _._  "They wanted to destroy Stark Tower in an attempt to close that portal thing on the roof."

Nothing more added. He continued with renewed vigour and pummelled the Everlast until the seems began to split down one side.

"Y'know, in light of this. . .Kai could well be right," Lloyd said, grunting with the effort of holding the Everlast punchbag steady as Cole launched into it with a fierce determination of wanting to decimate it. "You know it's possible."

_Damnit_ , Cole thought. Trying to completely ignore what Lloyd had uttered, some of it had gone in and hit home. As a team of five, they couldn't do it, couldn't take him down.

_Unless. . ._

Well, there was that deal to think about. Loki had made a bargain with them all, a straight-up swap of Jay for Lloyd, and they had barely twenty-four hours to decide.

Shaking it from his head, it was a stupid idea. There was no fucking way he was going to lose another member of the team. They'd come up with a new idea, they had to. The whole notion was stupid, I mean who asks to swap a person for a person? Yeah okay, he cocked his head, internally rolling his eyes. Forgoing the school phys ed teams, that was the only exception.

This was real life and actual lives were at stake if they cocked it up as a team. He needed everyone on board for this, and no rash decisions from Kai otherwise it would fall apart at the seams like this punching bag was.

Back to the present, he was aware that Lloyd was waiting for an answer. Yet, his thoughts were on his aching upper body. And, despite his well-meant advice earlier, he himself hadn't stretched out the pain from his arms and chest. These repetitive movements were making the ache all the more worse. Not like he'd be getting rest anytime soon either. He knew that tomorrow would be their first-day of training with STRIKE, least until they could be trusted enough to go out on their own.

But damn he was stiff, and his muscles were bunched. Cole had used muscles he hadn't used for months and truthfully he wasn't fully accustomed to performing CPR, even for the short duration he had. He didn't realise the other muscles used when doing this procedure would hurt as much as they were but he was glad they did. And, he could only exert a hint of his strength when giving the CPR, lest to avoid crushing Jay's chest to a bloody pulp. Shuddering, he remembered the feel of the lifeless chest below him and then the rib bone that cracked when he exerted pressure. It sent a shiver down his spine again as he relived the experience.

"Cole," He said, softly. "We might have to accept it, I mean what else can we do?"

_What else can we do? We're a team, a team works together to get things done. It's how we were taught, what made us strong and gave us this bond to begin with._

"Kai's wrong," Cole muttered under his breath. "We're gonna fight for him because I know Jay's still in there."

_I know he is. I'm sure of it. . ._

It was loud enough for Lloyd to hear and even if he hadn't heard clearly, he could still lip read those words because each was clearly enunciated.

Cole finished up with a roundhouse punch that knocked the punchbag and Lloyd off the floor with it. "Anyway, why are you giving up so easily?" He asked. Genuinely curious.

"Because of current team morale," Lloyd offered,  _nervously_. "I'm not saying this is a permanent thing, w-we just need to regroup, to think."

_Haa, regroup. . .Think about what exactly?_

Cole fumed "What, so just because we got our asses handed to us on a plate, you think that's it?" He deadpanned. "Honestly, he gave us twenty-four hours, not days or weeks! Lloyd please, this isn't like when we were back on the Bounty and we waited because we had no choice. This is different, you heard what he said. He's giving us hours to decide Jay's fate."

"He fought so well though."

"And he's still got plenty of fight in him,"Cole said, squeezing his eyes closed at Lloyd's badly chosen words because they sounded all so final.

Jay fought because he was told to, not because he wanted to. And he wondered then, if a part of Jay had been crying inside as he took on his team, and hurt his long-term girlfriend. As he fought for a man he hardly knew against his family, the team he had grown, laughed and cried with. "I'm not giving up and neither should you."

"I wasn't saying we should give up, I was saying I'd heard rumours. . ."

"Such as?" His eyebrow quirked. Not waiting anymore, he had to at least get greenbean back on his side, next was hothead then waterlily. Hell, Tincan was easy to reason with. "Honestly, Lloyd, Jay's depending on us, what kinda friends would we be if we just gave up?"

* * *

**Thanks for all the reviews. Honestly, these guys will get to explore soon. They can't stay cooped up for too long in a helicarrier, so stay tuned for more. And maybe, in the next few chapters, we may just see the guys getting rowdy with STRIKE soldiers and a tequila bar. Cake may be thrown in for good measure when they get permission to leave the compound...**


	13. The Tesseract

__

Huffing, Cole knocked his head back petulantly. It was a mixture of two things that had the earth master acting like this. Firstly, he knew the signs of boredom and he was doing his all to get himself out of that rut because he knew it could lead to a comfort eating binge, or lounging whereby he'd spend hours watching the multitude of tv channels. Secondly, there was so much negativity in the air, he could sense it by the bucket load pouring out of Lloyd.

Breath back under control, pulse slowing, Cole was eager for round two and anything that would rid him of these unwanted feelings. "So, do you wanna spar?" He said, getting back to his feet despite the obvious ache. "Or ya just gonna sit there and brood?"

The boredom, he could only partially counteract because this place had them locked up tighter than chickens in a box.

"I'm not brooding," Lloyd protested, firmly. "Does it really look like I'm the type?" There was no humour in his words, he was genuinely curious as to Cole's ribbing.

And so typically to prove Cole's playfulness, the master of earth grinned despite the seriousness. "I reckon it must be the bruises coming out. They give your face more definition." He offered his hand, to pull Lloyd upright, noting his brother still wasn't smiling. Was he that distracted he didn't recognise some gentle teasing? "I'm joking dude, you're not brooding. . . _much_."

_You totally are. . ._

Accepting the hand, he gave a shrug. Getting up to join his brother, Lloyd quirked a brow. "So, locking yourself up in here means you're not  _speculating_  either?"

"Ha, nope, I'm training," he replied still grinning. He hoped that his smile would belie his own lies. At least he was trying to do something about it though. "Trust me, this will get your mind off it, at least."

"Sure," Lloyd nodded,  _apprehensively_ , not fully believing the theory behind Cole's well-meant words. But hey, it wasn't like he was doing anything of any value except for casting a dark cloud on Cole's already seething mood. So, what the hell did he really have to lose other than this massively guilty feeling weighing him down? Nothing. . .

Honestly, if Lloyd could kick himself right about now, he would let rip and roundhouse kick himself into touch because there was Cole, taking on the role that his uncle had thought  _him_ mature enough to do.

Placing the gloves as Cole had before, he felt the dampness upon his skin. Yuck, they were sweaty from when Cole had used them.

And then he began. Punching the floor to ceiling ball in earnest as he jabbed away at it, like it was Loki's contemptuous, self-satisfied smirk ridden, conniving, bloodthirsty face. A wince of pain caught him when his concentration lapsed and he cast a badly aimed blow that gave a nasty rebound on his wrist.

His punches had been meaningful, to begin with, slowing to a playful jab when he saw the images of their most recent fight flash before his green eyes. They'd never hurt each other to that extent before. For starters, Nya had never broken her nose and Kai had never stabbed Jay in a fit of rage.

Cole had it right though, talking was good. And maybe he was right about the sparring too, at least it would give him something to focus on until Kai and Nya had finished up in the med wing.

Yeah, the med wing. The problem was that the medical area was rammed with fallen SHIELD and STRIKE members from the battle of New York. It was akin to a production line based on severity. Some who had been beyond help had already been sent to the city morgues for further orders from the families as to having a full honours funeral. Other's who had survived such an attack but were badly injured, they were sent to the major trauma centres around Manhattan. It was only the smaller less insignificant wounds that were treated here, such as simple bullet wounds. And since being in the stainless steel med wing, Lloyd had seen plenty of those being treated from friendly fire. He even saw an arrow wound.

_Honestly, who used those?_

Lloyd had only heard of one so-called archer in the Avengers. He wasn't so sure on his name or anything, all he knew was that this guy had fallen just as Jay had. Maybe just before Jay, in fact, come to think of it, wasn't Hawkeye rumoured to be the Avengers lookout, usually keeping himself out of sight?

Frowning, Lloyd narrowed his eyes and rested both gloved hands on the punchball.

Was that what Rumlow and Rollins had hinted at back in the SUV? Was it something to do with Natasha Romanov? Well, those two were like the best of friends. Both Natasha and Hawkeye were rumoured to have been through turbulent times recently, and they had been on the same team until this kicked off. Now Hawkeye was nowhere to be found and Natasha was being ruthless in her pursuit of Loki.

_So, it was Hawkeye's fault. . ._

_That archer has a lot of explaining to do._

* * *

"Not sparring then?" Cole watched from the corner of his eye.

Though Lloyd was standing near the floor to ceiling speedball, he wasn't actively participating, throwing a slow meaningless punch that wouldn't have hurt a fly. Obviously, his mind wasn't in this exercise regime at all. It seemed that his brother was in a world of his own, spirited away by some seriously deep thoughts. "Lloyd, I realise this is a stupid question but, are you okay?"

"He was stronger, today. Wasn't he?"

 _Compared to how he was a few months ago. . ._ Cole thought.

"Yeah, he was." He nodded in agreement. Why deny the obvious fact that Jay was as Fury had reiterated, almost unstoppable? He wasn't going to drone on and on about how once Jay and himself had been what he would consider as 'evenly matched';  _fighting wise._  Strengthwise, Cole had always had the upper hand. And what Wu had mentioned all those years ago still rang true now, he was as strong as earth, the strongest one of the team where-as Jay was fast, versatile and had the energy to spare.

It had taken Cole a few battles to realise that Jay could give as good as he could get. That fact was further proven on Chen's island when the pair fought each other and then again against the time twins, that time fighting on the same side.

But how times had changed.

"He's stronger, for sure, but so are we, as a team," Cole added. "Even if we're a member down we can still do this."

He looked at Lloyd. The blonde haired warrior looked to be doubting himself. He had stopped playfully punching and took to resting his head on it. There was definitely someone he wanted to get off his chest.

"We tried, that's what I'm trying to say, Cole. We attempted to get him to see who we were and it didn't work."

Wow, that hit Cole right in the gut. He wasn't expecting that,  _at all,_ and it threw him for six. Honestly, how could Lloyd think like that? Sure, Cole knew that they had to work together as a team to stop one solitary lightning master. . . But still, he hadn't thought that this battle was the end of it, and they would need to quit whilst they were still ahead. What would leaving do? They'd still be stuck here with no way of getting home and besides; SHIELD wouldn't want the rest of the team, Coulson said so himself.

"What, so you're just gonna give up?" Cole sighed. "Honestly, I never put you down as a quitter, Lloyd."

"I'm not, it's just. . ." Lloyd let out a sardonic laugh as he stood away from the training equipment. Slumping back down the nearest wall, he shook his head until his loose wet man bun fell out. "I've heard that maybe, we should cut our losses?"

Cole wasn't a fool. He knew that Lloyd still hadn't mentioned who had muttered that to him. Was it someone from within SHIELD's ranks or maybe Brock and his compadre? He was going to try and get the truth out of him if it took all day and night, he wanted to know who was sowing these seeds of doubt. "Really? You think that too?" An awkward pause which made Cole feel that he might need to prompt his brother to utter something,  _anything_.

Eventually, there was a long drawn in breath followed by an equally depressing sigh. "Y-yeah?" Lloyd said,  _solemnly._ Eyes remaining down, not even wanting to see the disappointment in Cole's gaze because he knew it was there.

Cole shivered with the look Lloyd had initially given him. He was being serious too and now, more than ever he wanted to know who had mentioned that because it was crass to write Jay off as a lost cause. Or more precisely as someone, they couldn't take on efficiently. They had though, they'd taken him on and took him down as promised. The only issue was that after the fight, there was no physical body for SHIELD to question or arrest for war crimes. Just a smear of blood where Jay had lain and when he had crawled away, the drops of blood followed him as he pitifully edged away to relative safety.

 _Safety_. . . Cole gave a dark laugh.  _It was astonishing that Jay would feel safe with such an egomaniacal God breathing down his neck._

"This is our brother we're talking about, not BORG stocks and shares, or your monthly subscription to Doomsday Comics. This is Jay."

_Please, Lloyd. Not you too, you gotta stop being so negative._

"Cole," Lloyd said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "This isn't working. It's been twice now. . . _Twice_ and we haven't been able to break through to him once!"

"Yeah, you don't think I know this?" Cole cocked his head, exasperated at being the strong one again. "It's like you're hanging him out to dry and giving up because we failed. Honestly, Lloyd, if we went through life like this, we'd never get anywhere, especially in our line of work."

Shaking his head. Talking to Lloyd like this seemed the only thing he could do without physically knocking some sense into the greenbean. "How many times have we been knocked down? Or how many times did the enemy win and we had to fight back to make everything right again?"

"What kind of ninja would we be if we just gave up after a few failed attempts? We certainly wouldn't be the so-called heroes of Ninjago, would we?"

There was no reply from Lloyd, yet Cole figured that he knew the answers. None of their battles had been easy, each one had resulted in them giving their all to fight for good. Garmadon, the Serpentine, the Stone Army and the Overlord, then his army of Nindroids, Morro, Nadakhan and then the Time twins and their affiliation with the Vermillion. Every damned fight had them putting their lives on the line for the realm of Ninjago.

Was this recent loss enough to make Lloyd feel worthless enough to forgo a brother? Had the shock of seeing Jay unresponsive been enough to make Lloyd stop and say;  _'That's it, I can't do this anymore?'_

Really?

Eyebrows bunched together to reduce the stress headache. He took a deep invigorating breath. "Lloyd, it happened to me too."

He spoke calmly, but anger lay underneath the surface as he sat down next to his sombre teammate in the moonlit room. "The Hynobrai? Back before the Grundle and that whole thing. I can remember you being a little kid and getting up to no good with a certain Serpentine tribe." Cole paused, "It was during your rebellious years?"

He hoped it would jog Lloyd's memory somewhat. After all, some time had passed since that day. And though he didn't doubt Lloyd's ability to memorise key events, he felt this recollection was essential to get him back on track, or back into the fold of believing that they,  _as a team_ , could do this.

"Yeah," Lloyd nodded slowly. "I remember."

"We initially thought you weren't a threat and kinda let you carry on until you started releasing the Serpentine." Cole shrugged, taking a deep breath. "Wu guessed all you needed was direction, a father figure but he wasn't anywhere to be found at the time, which is when your uncle asked us to intervene."

"Anyway," Cole said, carrying on. "We'd been alerted to your base, y'know the one you got the Hynpobrai to build in Wildwood Forest? Well, during that mission, I was hypnotised by Skales; we were trying to rescue you."

"I remember it, Cole. How could I not? I loved that tree fort."

Cole laughed softly. It was pretty impressive, he had to give a metaphorical thumbs up to Lloyd's imagination because the tree fort was indeed epic even if a little dangerous with only three guidewire vines. Shrugging again. "I guess, from what I was told, that I'd attempted to attack my brothers on his command. And I nearly ended up killing Jay in the process. Y'know that kinda drop would've been nasty had he not grabbed the fascia?"

_It would've been deadly._

"That was different though..."

"Not really, " Cole argued. "In a way, Jay's doing the same thing now but with a tougher opponent."

_A God to be exact._

"But you could be cured with Uncle Wu's flute and the Serpentine staff?" He intoned, "What cure is there for Jay, no one has been broken out of this mind control yet?"

Yeah, he had to agree with that. None of Loki's brainwashed men had been recovered, some of them had died while serving him.

And he remembered back to the Hypnobrai trance because there had been at least two cures for that. Although the flute itself was more a temporary fix. They'd had to fight tooth and nail for the staff and the venom within to completely cure him of Skales' control. However, they hadn't given up on him.

With the tone and feeling of hopelessness behind every one of Lloyd words, Cole couldn't help but feel that Lloyd was giving up. "Haa, yeah. Be a different story though, wouldn't it? If Jay and the guys had given up on me. Hate to think what those Serpentine would've done. I was just an accessory remember, simply a number, someone expendable?"

Lloyd had looked to be formulating some form of answer, to argue or not.

And then by luck, to cut their depressing discussion in half there was a blinding light.

With a loud click and an even more emphatic buzzing sound, the very bright fluorescent lights came to life. Lighting up in rows, starting from the farthest end and moving in quick succession towards the entrance door.

As the lights came on, Cole was been nearly blinded by the sudden change from dark to bright white, and he squinted in pain, holding up his hands to cover his face.

It took him a good few moments but his bronze eyes finally adjusted.

Cole looked to his side, seeing Lloyd who was wincing from the glare of the lights. And then Zane too, standing by the light switch, at the entrance door on the opposite end of the room.

Groaning slightly with the transition that brought on painful eyestrain, Cole took a brief glimpse around, and his expression dropped. This is why he liked it dark in here, the main reason being was that this dojo was shit compared to what he was used to. It was all  _carbon fibre_  this, and  _Kevlar_  that. He was yet to see a proper katana, the likes he had heard of being made in Japan.

In truthfulness, this room resembled the STRIKE team's locker room more than any dojo should. There was even a selection of metal lockers on show, now easily identifiable with the strip lighting on full. The only things missing were the sweaty muscled paramilitary guys, parading it around like they owned the place.

"Evening brothers," he greeted, mildly jovial. "I will not say good because it is far from it."

_You got that right tinman. . ._

Cole squinted across the room, Zane looked as good as new, shinier in fact. "Ah come in Zane. Come and join the pity party, everyone's welcome," He beckoned, smiling slightly when he saw what his metallic brother was carrying. "Oooh and he's bought refreshments too."

"You are not occupied?" He asked, still standing. "I could tell by your discussion, you had ceased with your training regime."

 _Busted_ ,  _Sensei always maintained that if you could talk during training, that you weren't putting your heart, soul and spiritual energy into the fight._

"No, we took a breather," Cole gestured Zane to join, rubbing his sweat soaked hair. "How's Nya doing?" He asked, reaching up to take a bottle from Zane. "Is she out of the medical bay?" He wanted to steer the conversation away from their most recent depressing topic. And although this topic was no better, it didn't actively involve a few team members uttering a willingness to wait it out until team morale had settled. Yeah, Cole knew that Kai was a mess, he needed to get his head back in the game. Needed to realise that his sister wasn't as fragile as he thought her to be. Lloyd just needed to man up. . .and tell these people to shove their opinions where the sun wouldn't shine.

Zane was quick to offer a gentle smile. "She had her nose set, some acrylic glue applied to seal the open contusion. I believe her nose appears to be as good as any nose I have seen."

"So, was it broken?"

Zane shook his head gently at Lloyd's question. "No, the bone at the bridge had chipped. She was fortunate. Had that blow been accurate, she would need corrective surgery."

His bushy eyebrow rose. So Jay hadn't intended to disfigure her then? Furthermore, he hadn't tried to kill any of them either. Jay had been trying to keep them all back from interfering with Loki's plans. It was then that Cole admired the quick work that some guys had done on Zane's face. The small dent had gone completely. "Who fixed you up then, take it the doctors in the med bay directed you elsewhere?"

"I was sent to a laboratory," Zane cocked his head. "James Rhodes performed the procedure, actually, on orders from Tony Stark."

"Were you buffed too? You look shiny," Lloyd gawked. Although maybe it was the excessive brightness in here and the fact that Zane was standing while himself and Cole were seated.

"I asked to be, my face was covered in oil and lubricant after they had finished with the minor repair. It really was only a small indentation, nothing significant."

"Did the journey interfere with your cloaking tech too?" Cole inquired, noting that Zane was still in his titanium state. "Because you're garnering as much attention as Iron Man does."

"It may have short-circuited the function, Tony Stark mentioned that some systems would be offline, inevitable really considering the infinite power of the Tesseract."

"Stark knows about it then? Not classified enough for us to know about it?"

"It is no secret, being that we too have a similar device."

That was true. Maybe just the description of what is was capable of was classified. Even though all six ninja knew of its capabilities for space travel and the opening of interstellar portals. "Sorry, Zane. You reckon you can get it fixed?"

For once Zane wasn't sure how to answer Cole's question. SHIELD wasn't exactly the type of company to spend money and time on things that they deemed as irrelevant to the bigger picture. Even Mr Tony Stark had to fund his own investments, relying on the fortune his father had left for him to do so. It was only very occasionally that he would donate money to M.I.T. And Zane wasn't exactly a student of that place nor one of the alumni.

"I do not know. The technology here is different, the parts would have to be custom made, as they are back in Ninjago."

"And I'm not sure I'd want total strangers rummaging around in there, while you're offline," Lloyd added.

Cole sighed in boredom. Getting back to his feet he laid into the punchbag with a ferociousness heretofore unseen.

Frustration, anger and exhaustion had gotten the better of everyone today.

And rather than subdue the slippery sod, known as Jay, they had chosen to use something much worse than a weapon. Lloyd had used his unrestrained power, and between them had further used the tornado of creation. It wasn't the energy pulse that had downed the mind controlled ninja nor the short tanto blade that Kai had rammed into Jay's shoulder joint. Sure, it had stopped him in his tracks but the T.O.C had literally sucked the life out of him and the force of the vacuum had plunged him downwards at such a rate, there was sure to have been a jarring concussion waiting for him when he woke.

But he didn't.

The master of earth had to bring Jay back and breathe the life into him. Then watch  _painfully_ , slowly as Jay crawled away clutching his wounds. Back to his new master. The man who was smirking and watching the show from above. Allowing it to happen.

_"Why should I give him up, he's mine now...I own him."_

Cole and Lloyd for that matter would never forget Loki's taunting, the sarcasm in those words he uttered. He knew that they had failed as a team and never before had Cole felt this disheartened. Loki had tested them, seeing how far they were willing to go. And Cole had taken that dare, throwing it back in his face.

_"You realise he will be dismayed at hearing how you feel about him? How worthless you make him seem?"_

Regret, it was written all over him now. How could he have been so blinded by hatred? Sure, he was trying to divert Loki's attention from Jay to another member of the Avengers but it was clearer now. He didn't want the Avengers, probably not even Hawkeye. He was eyeing Lloyd but reluctant to seize his hold on Jay. The master of lightning had something that he wanted. And so did Lloyd.

Jay's scream of pure agony was still ringing in his ears. And then the deathly silence that followed his takedown. The shrill scream of terror from Nya when she could see that he wasn't breathing.

And finally, Cole would probably never forgive himself for suggesting using it in the first place. Using his earth punch to slake his anger. He lashed out at the inanimate object. Hitting it with as much force as he could muster. Had Loki truly won this round?

The man had wanted a straight out swap. Then he made Cole feel like he was choosing between the two. Putting Jay down by his own badly chosen words.

"Urgh." He groaned. "This has got to be the shittiest most crappest day of my life,  _to date_ ," Cole mumbled.

His fists were lit up, casting a warming orange glow on everything nearby. Lloyd was holding onto it, steadying the bag so Cole could let rip and express those pent-up emotions. "I felt like it was my fault. The things I said, seemed to make it worse."

"It was not your fault, Cole," Zane replied quickly. He offered a cold compress to help bring out the shiner of a bruise on Cole's eye socket. It bore the perfect imprint from Jay's katana pommel. Lucky that Jay had held back, otherwise Cole might have been the unlucky recipient of a broken cheekbone. "He is a conniving man. Furthermore, you must understand that Loki is a master of deception. You cannot reason with someone who has no empathy for mortal creatures. This man has his own agenda, one that we are yet to understand."

"Zane's correct," Lloyd added, shrugging his shoulders.

"His agenda obviously involves Jay..." Cole growled accepting the compress and holding it to his cheek. He looked down to his free hand that was shaking with adrenaline. Realising something great, he hadn't placed his hands on Jay for over two months. Regardless whether this was simply embracing or sparring. The thing is, today had been the first time, although in vastly different circumstances and with a very distinct and definite urgency, Cole had again, placed his hands on Jay's exposed chest and applied the right amount of pressure to massage his heart back into some form of rhythm.

The bone that broke, Cole had felt that too. His open palm had felt it shatter as he maintained his count up to thirty. Looking helplessly to his side as Zane cringed in sympathy right along with him. Zane wasn't the best to perform rescue breaths as his lung capacity was pure oxygen but at that moment Kai couldn't be reasoned with and Lloyd had further passed out.

"These hands," Cole looked at them as he grasped the punching bag, steadying it and himself in the process. "I saved his life with them today."

"Yeah, you did." Lloyd was the only one training with him, Zane was standing by and watching. "And, I'm sure he'd have been grateful for that had he been in the right frame of mind."

* * *

A change of subject was needed because right at this moment, Cole wasn't doing much training, it was intermittent with bouts of discussion. He had needed this though, to clear his mind from their extensive debrief which had lasted over two hours, resulting in all having to fill out reports. The reason he was in the gym in the first place was that he'd had all he could take of Kai's negativity and he'd sent the latter to bed to recoup his thoughts. Sure, Kai could be forgiven for the slip-up, as could Lloyd. Neither had really meant it. It was a spur of the moment thing, an accident, something that shouldn't have happened.

And now that it had, Loki had somehow got the upper hand.

SHIELD didn't care. They had got what they wanted. They had the stupid sceptre and the damned blue cube. The very one that could send them all home and away from this place. So that was all good, fine and dandy for SHIELD, but Kai was right, what about them, as a team? What did this mean? In fact, where was Jay and why was Loki acting all calm about this?

Strangely, Cole had heard that the cube they had in Ninjago was a duplicate of the one they had found. Though how it was duplicated was largely unknown. Cole, however, had caught downwind of what Thor had said earlier. He had been eavesdropping at the time and heard Thor mention about it being an infinity stone. Well, at least Cole knew what it was now.

And he was describing to Lloyd and Zane, in relative secrecy, the same things he had caught himself.

"So, what can you tell us about the cube?"

He took a swig of water, gulping it down. "Once it had been used in a vast war involving five other gems of exceptional power. The resulting fight for power and control of these gems had scattered them far and wide. The Tesseract was one of them."

It wasn't exactly a long story, Cole was grateful for that fact. Sometimes he wasn't the best at recollection of events and ended up missing important parts out.

"Is the Tesseract, the cube?" Lloyd said, eyeing his black haired brother. He wasn't stupid, far from it. When he was much younger, Lloyd had learned geometry at Darkleys Boarding school. He knew that a cube with a cube within it was a tesseract. He had just never seen a real one before, at least one that was glowing. And at the time, emitting too bright a beam to see anything inside. In fact, he was surprised that Jay had been able to see anything, let alone the golden eyes that he had mumbled about seeing to Zane.

Cole nodded. "Yeah, the blue cube that Jay found. Well, get this...it had fallen to earth. Y'know with all things of power and intrigue, it fell into the wrong hands. Haa, you know how it is, even the realm crystal fell into Morro's hands right?" He sighed. Not knowing if this whole endeavour would end well or not considering how powerful this cube to rumoured to be. "The cube must have fallen through the void first."

"Sorry what?" Lloyd queried. "What's the void?"

He had to think back a little because Thor had really mentioned it in depth and Cole had no energy to give a verbatim account of the odd dialect he heard him muttering.

"It's almost like a primordial mist. Where strange things can happen." Cole said, tiredly. "And, I didn't hear him elaborate on it. I guess the way he chooses to speak might be construed as archaic and time consuming because the other guys in there with him, didn't seem overly interested either."

"That's a shame," Lloyd said, unsure of what else to mutter when Cole was on such a roll. It seemed that talking out his frustrations was the safer option. Even if he was only talking about the cube and the partially failed mission today.

"He did say that if a person ever fell into the void, that they would die of hunger first. Floating suspended in a breathable mist, unable to move or talk."

To Lloyd that sounded depressing, and lonely. He wondered if that was how his father had ended up spending his last days with the Pre-eminent, tethered inside her, silent for all eternity until the beast was taken down. He didn't interrupt though, kept listening in.

"Thor said that an immortal being can be held there for an infinite amount of time,  _millennia_. Watching nothing but life pass before their eyes as the universe changes in front of them." Cole sighed taking a deep breath. "Not sure how all that helps us, but it's scary stuff none the less. The thing that got me was, that objects pass through the void all the time, and when they do, they sometimes change."

"You think that's what happened with the cube?"

"It is plausible. Thor knows of this void personally, perhaps he has studied it then?"

Cole nodded imperceptibly. "It was the only explanation he gave for it, the only  _convincing_  one, that is." Shrugging at Zane's reasoning. "I still can't believe that Coulson thought we'd used some other tech to get here. I mean why would we even? It's beyond me."

"He saw us as a race of alien, similar to the man who has captured Jay. He is bound to have been suspicious of our true journey here."

"Who are you talking about?" Kai's voice was heard from the doorway. "The bloke with a red cloak?"

Cole sucked in a deep breath as the fire master walked into the gym, patched up with a few band-aids. His mood seemed to have tempered down somewhat, more at ease. Nya, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"No...what?" That response and the rhyme had Cole smirking slightly.

"You mean red riding hood?" Lloyd offered. Not wanting to admit he had watched a movie with said character in late one night because it was the only thing on tv that was worth watching and was supposedly a fairytale for this strange planet. He wondered how many parents read that story at night, it personally would have given him nightmares in his earlier childhood, but in his exhausted state he had fallen asleep five minutes into it.

"No, that's a woman, idiot." Kai grinned.

"I knew that..." Lloyd countered. He was lying, he hadn't got a clue, come to think of it. How did Kai know?

Cole shook his head at their antics. At least they were all getting on. He, however, wanted to remain silent for the time being. Maybe Zane could fill Kai in on the gaps or the previous conversations he had heard while waiting out in the lonely corridors of this ship.

"Actually, I believe it was a girl," Zane concluded. "Red riding hood is a girl."

Groaning, Cole shook his head again. "Look whatever, I was talking about Thor, specifically. Okay? He wears a red cloak, Loki green, got it?"

A few groans were heard save for Cole, he was silent again and still wasn't sure the reason why Kai had ventured in here. "So, I take it that Nya's resting up?"

Kai looked at Cole, awkwardness apparent in his expression as his eyes didn't want to retain contact with the master of earth. "She is, but. . .She'll be joining us soon. We're expecting a visitor."

Cole and Lloyd's eyebrows lifted at that. "A visitor, who?"

"Jay, "Kai said, in a sharp tone. Looking directly at Cole. "I'm surprised you didn't see the lightning. It was fairly obvious it was him. Usually, lightning goes from the clouds downwards,  _weatherwise_ , but this blast originated from the ground and..." He paused, nervously. "It was purple in colour."

"I'm not sure if you're aware,  _Kai_ , but this side of the ship is the opposite side to where the sleeping quarters are," Cole argued. Bearing in mind that he knew Kai had been sulking in his room whilst Nya was recuperating in her own after being wrapped up in bandages and plasters galore. "So, all we can see from this room is the outline of that woman statue down there."

He wanted to correct his brother but this time, he refrained because now wasn't the time to talk about US and French history pertaining to liberty and what not. "Where are we to meet him?" Zane asked, standing more upright. Showing an eagerness that rivalled Cole's own. "Is he here now?"

Biting his lip he nodded slowly. "He's being interrogated, he came here willingly to talk to us." Kai's expression dropped slightly. "They're giving us five minutes to talk to him and that's it."

"Where and when?" Cole was stood and heading for the towel rack before any had a chance to say more. If time was of the essence and there wasn't going to be a battle or risk to life then he'd take this chance to speak with Jay. "Where is it taking place?"

"The containment cell, the lower deck," Kai added. "In ten minutes. So, I'm going to get Nya, see if she wants to see the asshole who hit her or not."

Cole ignored that outburst, he bit back the angry retort that was bubbling under the surface. "Fine, go and see if she wants to see her boyfriend or not, I'll meet you both down there."

* * *

 


	14. Chapter 14

"Guys," Brock hollered at the lost ninja. "It's this way."

"What type of place are we going to?" Kai questioned, having walked past the upper decks and the unused offices there. Cole shrugged at him, he was clueless too.

"I don't know but I figure somewhere more secure, considering who he's working for."

"He's not working for him, Cole. Jay's been mind controlled to do his bidding. There's no paid work involved."

"I know that, green bean," Cole grumbled under his breath. "I was thinking aloud."

Foolishly, Cole thought the same as Kai. That maybe this meeting was going to be in an office, as before.

After all, it was where their last cross-examination took place and every other one after that. But this place they were being led to had travelled past all the offices and now they were in the underbelly of the helicarrier.

Travelling through the metal bulkheads that supported this colossal flying ship from the inside. The group carried on, right into the hull that signified the bottom of the ship.

"Whatever you do, don't touch the glass," Jack Rollins warned. "The cell is rigged to drop if the occupant is deemed too dangerous."

"Wouldn't that kill them though?" Lloyd queried, clearly confused as to why Jay needed to be in such a thing. He wasn't as dangerous as Loki, by any stretch.

"Where is this taking place? Cole asked, confused by what was being uttered audibly. He continued following the two STRIKE guys who led him and his team to the so-called place this short interrogation was due to take place in. "I take it that it's not gonna be in an office somewhere?"

"Nope, too risky for this fella," Brock said. "Too much metal around."

Yeah okay, Cole had to agree that it would probably be a bad thing if Jay went off on one in here. The whole room would be electrified in a matter of seconds in what would be classed as a giant lightning conductor.

All that was down here was storage, engines and that huge hulking thing in front of them. Below that was a few thousand feet of nothingness just the polluted air from New York city that was, at this moment covered in a thick smattering of clouds.

At first appearances, the cell resembled a waterless aquarium. And the size of it. It looked family sized, meant for something much bigger.

_Well_. Cole thought to himself as he took in the massive size of this cell.  _This isn't any place I've been before, at least on this ship._

It was partially true. The last helicarrier they'd all boarded prior to this had been hit not too long after from an attack by the Hawk AKA Agent Clint Barton. This had meant that the previous helicarrier had to limp back to the Triskelion in Washington DC. That one also had a large hole in place as to where this containment cell was currently located. Indicating that there had once been a cell there before.

According to Agent Hill, there was a cell and the one in question had contained Loki, but the sneaky sod had outwitted his brother to come to his aid and in doing so, he had fallen for the deception, hook line and sinker. Thor had found himself trapped as the cell hurtled towards a rural part of New York.

No wonder the big guy with his hammer and red cloak looked so ticked off up on the bridge. He'd escaped, relatively unscathed save for a sore ego.

Cole, noted Zane looking at the impressive engineering on display. It was hard not to notice as there were four large yellow coloured hydraulic arms that held the circular pen in place at individual links. The whole thing seemed to be controlled and secured by a small standing control panel, located a few feet from the cell in question.

Walking around the corner into the main containment area. All eyes fell on the solitary occupant inside.

He was in a sorry state, hunkering on the floor with a confused expression on his battered face.

"Here's bluebird," Rollins smirked. "The injuries, haa. He came in with em."

Brock bit his lip and looked away.

Cole narrowed his eyes at Rollins statement, disbelieving of it. He took in Jay's appearance. Sure Jay had fought them all a little over four hours ago and some of the bruising was beginning to show. But there were new injuries apparent,  _fresh ones_. Specifically, ones that looked like they had just happened. And judging by the haphazard stitching on his temple, Jay might have done his own first aid too.

Yeah, he had to admit to himself that Jay looked bad. Not out of shape per se, but ill and worn out.

_Has he even slept? Eaten? Showered?_

Cole checked his watch for the time. They only had five minutes before SHIELD were due to come back.

Only problem, his watch was going haywire. When wasn't it? Honestly, Cole had no idea why he was still wearing it. The second and minute hand were floating around freely on the face of the watch and the hour hand was moving as fast as the second hand would have done. He knew he'd been down in the dojo for approximately two hours and the med wing one hour before that. All he'd been given was pain meds and a cold compress for his cheekbone.

He didn't know what to say in response to how his best friend looked. All words had dried up in his mouth.

"JAY," Nya shouted. "What have you done to him?" She spat. Looking sideways at the two STRIKE men who were retreating.

There was blood on the cell floor. Not a huge amount, just something to give the room a little more colour considering it was a gray and glass interior. There wasn't even a toilet, just a lowered platform, obviously meant for sitting and not much else. The blood made a welcome colour change because Jay seemed to be playing with it. With his own blood, when it trickled down from his head.

Instinctively, Jay rubbed at the bloody rivulet and it smeared on his fingers. From there, he wiped it on the floor to add to the ever-increasing amount of smeared red blood.

It looked hopeless like he had well and truly lost his mind. Cole didn't want to think it, but...was this Jay giving up?

It was only a deep invigorating sigh from Jay that broke Cole from his deeply depressing thoughts.

"Oh this," Jay mumbled. Pointing to his shoulder and his head. "This is nothing, just a little rough treatment from SHIELD," He replied as if it was a regular occurrence. Cole wished to the first spinjitzu master again that this wasn't a routine thing for Jay.

Jay's hollow eyes were gazing into Nya's own, trying to work her out. To remember something, to understand why she was looking at him like that.

And despite her obvious sadness and Jay's nonchalance. Cole watched as Kai become annoyed with how blase Jay was being.

Honestly, what could Kai do? Nothing. It wasn't like SHIELD would be letting him leave anytime soon so maybe Kai would be able to air his anger at some point. Not that it would help. The Firestarter seemed adamant that Jay knew what he was doing.

"Jay, are ya alright?" Cole asked, kneeling down as close as he could in front of the circular prison cell. "Bro?" He added, hoping to jog his memory somewhat.

"Mmhhmm, yup."

Cole edged nearer, staying away from the glass as forewarned. He lowered his voice as before and took on a sympathetic stance, a different tactic. "Y-you look pretty bad."

Jay looked down when Cole spoke, his gaze intermittently looking upwards at the female. Even though Kai was scowling at him, he kept glancing at her.

This was so unlike him. It wasn't right. Where was the talkative blue dude who didn't know when to shut up? Or the jokester that laughed at his own puns more than anyone else did?

"Y-you need medical attention, Jay," Cole said, voice almost a whisper as he gnawed at his knuckles. Willing his brother to remember something... _anything_. "You realise you're b-bleeding?"

Cole figured Jay knew that small fact. It was on his hands, on the floor and a very small portion of the red stuff was on the glass cell that Jay had more than likely collided with upon being placed in here. "I'm worried about you, we all are."

Jay lifted his gaze and stared Cole down with a haunting look. The same expression he gave earlier when Cole had revived him.

Shuddering when he saw them for himself. When exactly had that happened? "What's with your eyes?" Cole enquired.

_Are they contact lenses? Has Jay's eyesight deteriorated since being here that Loki made him wear contacts? Did he not realise his eyes had changed colour?_

He couldn't remember Jay mentioning anything about having bad sight before all of this. Jay never wore glasses, except for sunnies.

"I was bleeding because someone stabbed me." Came his monotonous response _._  "And there's nothing wrong with my eyes," He stated defiantly.

Wow, Cole was definitely taken aback by the attitude. It was the same as earlier so nothing had changed in that respect.

"If you don't like them, quit staring."

"Jay, It's not that." Cole said.

_Please, I'm just trying to talk._

"Cole, I don't like this." Lloyd murmured under his breath, looking at Jay.

"He came here of his own accord," Kai said, leaning in and holding Nya, despite her wanting to get up and kneel as close as she could get to the cell. "What's the betting that he hasn't come alone?"

"It's a risk, I'm willing to take in that case," Cole replied. "Besides, between us, this ship has got plenty of trained personnel, ready to take on any threat that Loki might throw at them. It sure as hell isn't going to be brought on by him, alone in here, is it?"

"Well, he could, Cole. This could all be a setup," Kai was quick to state. "Remember Loki's bargain?"

"What are we supposed to do?" Cole shrugged. "He's obviously here to talk to us and yeah possibly, he might have a plan up his sleeve or a ploy to see us fail."

"I'm thinking the latter," Kai muttered.

"You would, Kai," Cole grumbled in response. "Look, the thing is, we're kinda doubting him because he's been brained to think like Loki. What if he still remembers little bits about us and he came here just to, y'know  _talk_?"

It was perfectly plausible. Jay wasn't shouting expletives in his cell or asking to be let out. This was compliance at its best, Jay was docile, seated and somewhat dazed, unable to do much, other than talk and hold basic conversation. Most of which seemed to be laced with anger and a sense of betrayal.

He did give some thought to what Kai and Lloyd had uttered. How could he not? He dreaded it if it were true. Because truthfully, being up here on this ship was akin to being a sitting target. Sure the Helicarrier had cloaking capabilities which meant it couldn't be seen from the ground but somehow Jay had sensed it.

"How do you know me, my name?" He asked. Breaking the conversation in half between the arguing teammates outside of the cell. "You seem to recognise me, yet I've got no recollection, of you." His unnatural eyes darted to the side.

_It was the sign of a very obvious lie._

Cole sighed when he realised that Loki had already begun to alter Jay's appearance, his once beautiful sapphire eyes which buzzed with electricity were now devoid of such, there was no joy there. Instead, a haunting unnatural purple similar to red eyes except not as scary...it was apparent to Cole that Jay had no idea.

The black ninja was heartbroken, had he already lost him to Loki?

"Jay, we are your brothers, we came to rescue you." Zane intoned. "Can you remember the electrical disturbance on the Bounty?" He added, reminding him of the reason he was stranded here. He thought it might help jog his memory but carried on trying to buy his team some extra time because he knew SHIELD would be up any minute for further interrogation.

"You're right though, I came here of my own free will, to talk," Jay mumbled, eyes drawn towards her again. "This cell has speakers, an amplifier and a microphone. I can hear you even if you whisper." He sighed. "Anyway, I realise that Loki may have altered my mind. Explaining why I can't. . ." He looked away, tearing his gaze from everyone. "remember. . . _anything_."

"Jay?" Cole mumbled, pleading for his best friend to turn and face him.

His back was inclined. Head resting in his hands, Jay was fighting something while he played with the spilt blood. "But in order to protect you from further harm, I'll be accepting his offer."

"His offer?" Cole repeated, face paling.

_Loki offered him something._

This was preposterous to Cole. How could Jay think this was a good idea? Sure it was chivalrous but did Jay really have a death wish? Had he honestly thought it through? Why did Cole have the feeling that Loki had kept certain details from him...Like being treated like a piece of shit for all eternity by someone who had a chip on their shoulder.

"WHAT?" Cole's voice boomed, fists banging on the glass showing the sheer desperation of his actions. "No, you can't. Jay, this is a really bad idea."

_It's suicide._

"Jay," Lloyd said, edging closer, pulling Cole's hands from the containment cell to avoid setting off the security fail-safe. "I don't mind trading myself. We have a plan, after all, to get you out of this." Lloyd's face was just as anxious as Cole's. "No one needs to do or say anything rash?!"

_It's too late for that._

His head snapped up at the sound of heavy footfalls. "I-I have no choice." Jay's shoulders slumped. "He sorta controls me." Seeing the men before the team of ninja had, he turned around on his hands and knees to look Cole in the eyes. "I'm sorry, I realise, we might have had a history together, which I can't really remember, but, I have a feeling this is the only way."

"Jay," Cole bit his lip, hand placed on the glass to feel the warmth of his friend's hand slipping away. "Come on, we'll figure this out."

"Forgive me," Jay said under his breath, hearing the door to his cell being opened.

"No, wait," Cole banged on the glass, cringing as one mechanical arm shuddered with the strain. "Please, wait."

The SHIELD agents had Jay restrained and subdued. STRIKE personnel armed and flanking as they walked past the team of wretched ninja.

"I'm sorry C-Cole, it's for the best."

_Like hell is it for the best. . . We'll come up with a plan Jay, we'll get you back._

And then he was gone, taken to another part of the ship to be questioned before being handed over to the relevant authorities for trial and imprisonment.

Zane's keen hearing had picked up the sounds of a zip line and the faint clang of a grappling hook, but he could not see one from his vantage point.

"Guys? We gotta do something." Cole said, facepalming. "Jay remembered my name, he's remembering us."

"You sure it wasn't because Lloyd was calling your name and Jay might've heard you?"

"I know, Cole. And that's good, but we're running out of time with this." Lloyd replied, ignoring Kai's remark. "He'll be here interrogated for an unknown duration FSM knows what else. I doubt they'll let him go, what if Loki gets him?"

Cole shrugged, he wanted to believe that Jay was remembering.

"Well," Nya piped up, shuffling from Kai's embrace. "What choice have we got? We've got to agree to this trade, we don't have to fully go through with it, we just need a subterfuge, something to fool him into believing he's got what he wants."

"It's too risky, without telling SHEILD what we're doing. You realise we'll be on our own?" Kai whispered.

"I miss him," She said, looking into her brother's eyes. "I miss Jay."

Now he was getting misty eyed too. "We all do, Nya," he whispered. "All of us, even cold-hearted, hot-tempered me," He smiled down at his sister and her plastered nose. Wishing he could take away her pain, physical and emotional.

Lloyd came over to soothe her as best he could. "Nya," He said, stroking her hair and pulling her into a loose embrace, all the while feeling her trembling. "We'll get him back. You just gotta have some faith in us. Honestly, everything will work out for the best, I promise."

"Don't you guys find it strange that Jay said he'd accept Loki's offer?" Kai said, monotonously. "When he's very obviously not gonna be seeing the light of day?"

"What are you getting at?" Cole narrowed his eyes.

"That, wire over there," Kai pointed at a swinging thin rope. "It wasn't there earlier. I don't think he knew, or maybe he did. . . Like I said, this could have been a setup."

Cole had wandered over to the rope in question, Looking up through the railings to see a grappling hook attached to the nearest bulkhead. Whom ever owned this rope certainly seemed experienced in its use. It had the remnants of a pulley attached, The type that would be used to propel the user to a different location at speed. "We're not alone then, come on guys, we need to come up with a plan for tomorrow."


End file.
